When Smith didn’t do a Shakib!

SA cricket captain Graeme Smith (left) and India’s Sourav Ganguly address the press after a practice session in Kanpur on November 19, 2004. Representation pic/AFP

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan winning his Timed Out appeal against Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews in Monday's World Cup game at the Kotla in New Delhi took me back to January 5, 2007. Towards the end of December 2006, I believed the Indian cricket team would end up with an unprecedented Test series win in South Africa. That belief was based on the fact that they had beaten the hosts in the opening Test of the three-match series in Johannesburg - the Test in which Sourav Ganguly made his comeback in the Greg Chappell era and the game in which S Sreesanth underlined how massively talented and skilled he was as a seam bowler. They contributed in no small measure to India's first-ever Test win in the Rainbow Nation, after first touring there in 1992-93.

India succumbing to defeat in the next Test at Durban notwithstanding, I sensed Rahul Dravid's men could be victors in the final Test at Cape Town. I had been to South Africa earlier in the month and watched India's ODI side stumble match after match for a 0-4 series loss.

Soon I was on my way to Cape Town, hoping to witness history. South Africa and Australia were the only two countries where series wins for India were still elusive.

The way Graeme Smith's South Africa outclassed that Indian team, despite conceding the first innings lead, ensured my Indian colleagues in the press box and I did not witness history. But we came very close from a different perspective.

On the morning of Day Four, India were reduced to six for the loss of openers Virender Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer with one-drop Dravid at the crease. It was rare to see a different opening pair when Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik had put on 153 for the first wicket in the first innings, where Sehwag had batted at No. 7. What was the team management thinking?

Sachin Tendulkar was next man in, but he was off the field for 18 minutes the previous day. According to the 2007 edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, there were five minutes left for him to be eligible to be on the field again and he "was halted on his way to the crease at the fall of the second wicket." We journalists were left wondering what could be the reason for the delay of the incoming batsman. We soon discovered that Tendulkar couldn't walk out and figured that another batsman was getting ready to enter the playing arena. After a seven-minute delay, we saw Sourav Ganguly arriving, much to our relief. Wisden mentioned that Ganguly was not even in whites when the dressing room learnt that Tendulkar couldn't bat at that point in time. VVS Laxman would have to go but he was in the washroom - "caught with his pants down literally - in the toilet." The displaced captain batted well, shrugging off all the drama with a useful innings of 46 before Herschelle Gibbs caught him at gully off Jacques Kallis. The umpire in the thick of things was Australian Daryl Harper, who spoke to the media after play ended for the day. Harper gave the impression that the Indian camp should have been aware of when Tendulkar could walk out to bat. On the other hand, he admitted that he and his partner Asad Rauf could have apprised them of the situation before play could start. "We could have gone and told them first thing in the morning but I didn't want to put a negative thought in their mind. On hindsight, I probably could have gone in and done that. There was a little bit of embarrassment all around, but the amazing thing is different things happen each day, and today didn't let me down," Harper told us as the sun set at Newlands.

Hopes for a series win were still alive in the Indian camp despite South Africa bowling them out for 169. The loss of two South African wickets in their pursuit of 211 provided that belief. "Anything can happen. You never know in such situations. But we are happy that we got two wickets," Ganguly told this newspaper. The South Africans ensured they didn't falter too much and won by five wickets the following day. No history was made for India, and Ganguly didn't end up being the first batsman in international cricket to be timed out. Harper confirmed to the media that South Africa skipper Smith did not appeal for a Timed Out verdict. That was sporting of him. Or probably his heart went out to Dravid, who was already under pressure. After all, Smith said in a pre-series interview to Cricinfo Magazine when asked if he would indulge in some gamesmanship with Dravid: "I don't think any of that sort of stuff would make the slightest difference to him [Dravid]. You can't put any extra pressure on the captain of the Indian cricket team - he's got quite enough already with the weight of expectation from the nation and the nation's media. Besides, it wouldn't even occur to me to play games like that with Rahul. It will be a straightforward contest of cricketing skills between two passionate teams, and if Rahul and I can produce a good piece of captaincy here and there, so much the better." Smith chose not to be part of history when he could have easily played a role in Ganguly being Timed Out. How some of us would hope Shakib would do a Smith and be empathetic towards Mathews's helmet malfunction at the Kotla.

mid-day's group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance.
He tweets @ClaytonMurzello. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com
The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.