Test Cricket Tours - India to South Africa 2001-02

 

 

Tour of South Africa 2001-02        Captain: Saurav Ganguly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

46th Indian Test tour

 

(September -

            November 2001)

 

Third Test-playing tour of South Africa by India

 

 

 

 

 

In Mumbai on 6 September Chandu Borde, chairman of the selection committee asked John Wright to give an evaluation of Ganguly's captaincy, and then named him as captain for the South African tour.

 

 

 

 

The third Test was stripped of its official status

 

 

 

Other Indian tours

 

 

Previous tour

Sri Lanka 2001

 

Next tour

West Indies 2001-02

 

 

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour  party

 

 

 

AB Agarkar

Mb

 

RHB   RFM

ODI

 

SS Das

Os

 

RHB  opener

ODI

 

D Dasgulta

Bn

 

 

ODI

 

SS Dighe

Mb

 

 

 

 

RS Dravid

K

 

RHB    vice-captain

ODI

 

SC Ganguly

Bn

 

LHB   captain

ODI

 

Harbhajan Singh

Pj

 

OB

ODI

 

A Kumble

K

 

LBG

ODI

 

V V S Laxman

H

 

RHB

ODI

 

A Nehra

D

 

LFM

 

 

BKV Prasad

K

 

RHB

ODI

 

V Sehwag

D

 

RHB  opener

ODI

 

J  Srinath

K

 

RFM

ODI

 

SR Tendulkar

Mb

 

RHB

ODI

 

CC Williams

Ba

 

 

 

 

Zaheer Khan

Ba

 

LFM

 

 

 

Joined the tour party for the

Harvinder Singh

ODI

  one-day internationals

J J  Martin

ODI

 

 

 

RS Sodhi

ODI

 

 

 

Yuvraj Singh

ODI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teams:  

Ba - Baroda

Bn - Bengal

D - Delhi

H - Hyderabad

K - Karnataka

Mb - Mumbai

Os - Orissa

Pj - Punjab

Rly - Railways

  

 

  

 

  

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(9 December 1960) : 27 yrs  9 months

 

 

 

Test Appearances made before the tour

 

Tendulkar

 

 

 

 

Team Officials

 

Dr MK Bhargawa

Tour Manager

John Wright

Coach

Amrit Mathur

Media manager

Andrew Leipus

Physiotherapist

 

Dr Mahendra Kumar Bhargawa of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association was named team manager. He also managed Indian tour to Australia in 1999-2000.   Shivlal Yadav (secretary of Hyderabad Cricket Association) was offered the post at first until Board president Dr A.C.Muthiah made a u-turn.

Amrit Mathur was an IAS officer who worked for the Sports Authority of India

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

The selectors, CG Borde, S Madan Lal, AO Malhotra, S Jagdale and TA Sekar, along with Ganguly and coach John Wright, met in Mumbai - their last meeting before the Board named a new selection panel.

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

The ODI Team for the tri-series was announced in Mumbai on 7 September 2001.

 

Withdrawal: V V S Laxman (not yet recovered from knee operation).

Zaheer Khan who had lower abdominal problems and strain in his right ankle, and Laxman's replacement Hemang Badani (stress fracture of back) also withdrew from the first part of tour

Baroda's Jacob Martin and Punjab's Harvinder Singh replaced Badani and Zaheer for the one-day series.

 

Srinath, Tendulkar and Kumble were all declared fit. Ganguly had torn a ligament in the pelvic region and selected subject to fitness.

 

Unavailable :  S Ramesh maade himself unavailable for the Test squad on 19 October because of a back injury.  The team physio Andrew Leipus came to Mumbai specially to conduct fitness tests, and ruled left-arm pace bowler Ashish Nehra (groin injury) as unfit for the tour.  Agarkar was selected from amongst Debasish Mohanty and Baroda's Rakesh Patel.   Harvinder Singh, the fast bowling stand-by, seems to have been overlooked.

 

Test squad announced: Chairman Chandu Borde announced the Test squad in Mumbai on 23 October 2001.

 

Connor took Ramesh's place.  Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra passed the fitness test

Middle-order batsman V.V.S. Laxman had already joined the team in South Africa for the last two one-dayers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Travel

 

Physio Andrew Leipus and sports medicine expert Dr Anant Joshi conducted fitness tests at the Wankhede Stadium before the team left for South Africa on 24 September.

The 14-man squad with the exception of Ajit Agarkar flew on a South African Airways flight from Mumbai and arrived in Johannesburg to a low key reception, it being a public holiday in South Africa (Heritage Day).

The last minute replacement for Ashish Nehra, Agarkar, was summoned from Nairobi where he was playing in a triangular series match for Mumbai  He could not leave with the team on 24 September as his visa papers could not be processed in time, and he finally left for South Africa on 26 September.

A conditioning camp took place in Johannesburg from September 25-30. The tour proper began on 1 October.

V.V.S. Laxman, a member of the Test party, was called in for last 2 ODIs. 

Connor Williams, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Sameer Dighe, joined the team for the Test series while Martin, Yuvraj, Sodhi and Harvinder Singh left the team after the ODIs.

 

 

 

 

On-tour selection

 

 

 

 

 

Reinforcements

 

Sourav Ganguly requested the Board (BCCI) to review the physical fitness of left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan and fly him to South Africa at the earliest should he be declared fit.  Laxman was summoned for the last two ODIs when

Yuvraj Singh strained intercostal muscles.

Rahul Dravid (ruptured shoulder cartilage) was passed fit to play in the Test series.

Samir Dighe, the first-choice wicketkeeper, suffered back spasms on the morning of the first Test at Bloemfontein and returned home without playing a game   Dasgupta took over, and uncapped Ajay Ratra was placed on standby.

The Board asked the Selection Committee to hold a teleconference with the team management and decide whether to send any extra player for the remaining two Tests,

 

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

“ Randjesfontein

N.F.Oppenheimer XI

Won 5w

“ Benoni

South Africa A

Won 3 w

§ Johannesburg

South Africa (1st ODI)

Won 6w

§ Centurion

South Africa  (2nd ODI)

Won 41r

§ Bloemfontein

Kenya  (3rd ODI)

Won 10w

§ Port Elizabeth

Kenya  (4th ODI)

Lost 70r

§ East London

South Africa  (5th ODI)

Lost 46 r

§ Paarl

Kenya  (6th ODI)

Won 186r

§ Durban

South Africa (ODI Final)

Lost 6w

Chatsworth

UCBSA President's XI

Abandoned

BLOEMFONTEIN

SOUTH AFRICA  First  Test

Won 9 w

East London

South Africa A

Abandoned

PORT ELIZABETH

SOUTH AFRICA Second Test

Drawn

CENTURION

South Africa Unofficial Test

Lost inns 73 r

 

 

 

 

 

 

“ not first-class

.

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

 

2  -  Das, Dasgupta, Dravid, Ganguly, Kumble, Laxman, Sehwag, Srinath, Tendulkar

1  -  Agarkar, Harbhajan Singh, Nehra, Zaheer Khan

0  -  Dighe, Prasad, Williams.

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

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Tour Summary

 

 

P

W

L

D

Test Matches

2

0

1

1

Other f-c matches

1

0

1

0

Minor matches

-

-

-

-

One-day internationals

7

3

4

0

All Matches

10

3

6

1

 

 

 

 

Return to India

 

The four players who returned home after the one-day series were Jacob Martin, Yuvraj Singh, Harvinder Singh and Reetinder Singh Sodhi.

The Test team departed from Johannesburg on Thursday evening  29 November 2001 and arrived in Mumbai on 30 November.

Ganguly said he was surprised that the selectors did not consult him over the selection of the team for the forthcoming Mohali Test against England, which included five new bowlers and Sehwag