NEW DELHI: Even as India and Australia gear up for the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, a former player is waiting anxiously for the action to unfold come Friday. After all, the prestigious Trophy and the venue had given him one of the fondest memories of his cricketing career (the Test series between the two countries was christened the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Feroz Shah Kotla before the one-off match in 1996).
Speaking about the match, the hosts, led by Sachin Tendulkar, won the match by seven wickets with Anil Kumble doing exceptionally well (9/130 in the match) to bowl out the visitors twice in under 180 overs.But it was their wicketkeeper-batter Nayan Mongia who stayed on the ground for more than three days to make sure India took a formidable lead of 179 on the slow and turning wicket. In the end, he batted for 497 minutes facing 366 deliveries to score 152 in the first innings. That innings, where he opened with Vikram Rathour, currently the batting coach of Team India, remains his best in Test cricket.
It was not that Mongia had not opened the innings for the country before the match. He did that in New Zealand and England but that knock in Delhi turned out to be special in many ways. It was also his only century in Tests and fetched him the Man of the Match Trophy as well. "Once the squad was announced, I was told in advance that I had to open the innings. It helped me prepare for the role mentally and physically," Mongia told this daily from his hometown Baroda.
Elaborating on the efforts that went into preparing him for the dual roles, he said, "We got some time off after the England series and that helped me immensely. I started batting on concrete as well as turning tracks in Baroda. I faced new balls a lot to prepare for the opener's role. It's never easy to bat when the ball is new. A lot of adjustments are needed to see off the new ball. There are no specific net bowlers like today, but I took throwdowns from short distances keeping in mind the pace and swing that Australian fast bowlers will generate. We knew the wicket would be slow and turning, so I prepared accordingly. I used to train for hours in the nets. I used to guard wickets in one net and then bat at the other. I think I trained there for a week or 10 days before moving to Delhi."
Mongia was so engrossed in the contest that he didn't realise the time he had spent on the ground during the match. But once it got over, he was more than happy for what he had done for the team. "I was out there for almost four days, either keeping wickets or batting. I didn't feel anything during the match but once it got over I was really tired. It was tough but I was happy I managed to score a hundred. Wicket was not that easy to bat but everything was falling in place for me so once I was set, I didn't throw my wicket as it a was good opportunity to bat for a longer time. It was a good memory for me. The match also fetched me the Man of the Match award."
As luck would have it, he was trapped in front of the wicket for a naught in the second innings. "Cricket is a great leveller, you cannot take anything for granted, you can get out for nought after scoring a century. You have to start from scratch always," he said.Given the way the hosts are performing, Mongia feels they will win the series 3-0 to make it to the World Test Championship final. He also believes that the visitors have lost the game in the mind even before the series started.
"Aussies seem to have lost (contest) in mind. They are not up to the mark skill-wise to play in India, especially the youngsters. They have a lot of shortfalls while playing against spinners like (Ravindra) Jadeja and (Ravichandran) Ashwin. For a spinner, you need to go to the pitch of the ball, you don't allow ball to spin, you need to play late, you need to adjust quickly, you need to beat the flight, you need to adjust your feat, which they are unable to do. They are stuck in the crease and unable to read the ball from the hand. Too much talk about pitch and conditions rather than concentrating and focusing on the game led to their downfall in the first match."
Mongia will be glued to the television once the contest starts. He also hopes a standout performance from one of the Indian players as he did 27 years ago. "The whole team was jubilant. I still remember a girl coming to congratulate me in the dressing room after the century," signed off a nostalgic Mongia.