The finals of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy played at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on the 13th of February proved to be anything but close fought

Anand Vasu13-Feb-2000The finals of the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy played at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on the 13th of February proved to be anything but close fought. On winning the toss, Rahul Dravid, the captain of the India seniors team had no hesitation in electing to bat first. The start that openers VVS Laxman and Shiv Sunder Das gave India vindicated his decision completely. Both openers took apart the India A bowling. Das has enjoyed good form through the tournament and Laxman found some today. As both openers stroked their way to centuries on a flat batting track India notched up a mammoth total of 320. The score proved to big for the India A team, who succumbed to an 84 run loss.Enjoying an opening stand of 195 runs, India took the game away from the India A side very early on. While Laxman is usually circumspect about any bowling attack, he went about his business with gay abandon. Easily the dominant partner in the opening stand, Laxman made 105 off just 86 balls. Das was less fluent, but equally prolific. His knock of 114 ended as late as the 38th over. At this stage India were in a commanding position at 244/2.India had the luxury of a powerful start and yet they could not fully capitalise. Rahul Dravid made 35, but no one else really got going. The situation demanded a player who could make a quick thirty or forty and none was forthcoming. As wickets fell at regular intervals it looked like India would not get very much past the 300 mark. In the end, everyone chipped in with scores hovering around the ten run mark and India set an imposing target of 321 for victory.Only Amit Bhandari with 4/53 off 10 overs could walk of the field with any sense of achievement. This too thanks mainly to the fact that he could capitalise on some directionless batting after the openers were dismissed.When India A came out to bat, they would have been hoping for various miracles. None happened. They got off to the worst possible start as Virendra Shewag was trapped LBW by Venkatesh Prasad off the second ball he faced. He did not trouble the scorers. Soon after, Ashu Dani and Sanjay Bangar followed him to the pavilion. Prasad had scalped three wickets and reduced India A to 27/3.With nothing to lose, Mohammed Azharuddin and Sridharan Sharath played some handsome strokes. In the only decent partnership of the India A innings, the two attempted to put up a fight. Azhar signaled that he was ready to make a comeback with yet another half century. Sharath mixed aggression with caution and notched up a useful half century in a losing cause.After the two dashers Sharath and Azhar, were dismissed there was very little doubt about the result. The next three batsmen to follow, Niraj Patel, Nayan Mongia and Ashish Kapoor all made it to the twenties and saw to it that the margin of defeat was less than a hundred runs.With 3/46 off his 10 overs, Prasad was the pick of the bowlers. The fact that he picked up his wickets at the top of the order and demolished any chances of an India A chase made his effort doubly valuable.Yet another Challenger Trophy has ended with a facile India Seniors victory. This time around, the biggest beneficiary would have to be VVS Laxman who was named the Man of the Series. However, Laxman is not a part of the Board President’s XI squad which will take on South Africa in Mumbai on the 19th of February. Whether this means that Laxman is an automatic selection for the Indian team only time will tell.In all, the tournament brought some young blood to the fore. Mohammed Kaif and Niraj Patel in particular have caught the eye with some solid performances. What the selectors choose to do with the events they have witnessed will go a long way in determining the usefulness or otherwise of the exercise.