Why can't India contain Hooper?
J Uthaman - 15 May 2002
It certainly is a million-dollar question. Although his knocks have
been punctuated with half-chances for the fielding side, his wicket
has become almost as valuable as Lara's. The West Indian skipper is
notorious for playing reckless shots and getting out at the wrong
time. But in this series he has transformed into a more responsible
player without losing that sublime touch.
Not that his tendency to play fancy shots has been eliminated
completely, and that is what Sourav Ganguly should be hoping to
capitalise on. He should have created situations in which Hooper took
one chance too many. Hooper's inability to play with complete
discretion for a long period always works against him, even though
there are no question-marks about his talent. He is probably one of
the few players in the world who can play both spin and pace with
equal ease, and on his day, he can handle the best of the bowlers with
consummate ease, especially at home.
India are finding it beyond their abilities to contain this free-
stroking batsman. His average against them is going up exponentially
as he scores one century after another; right now, it stands at 57.61.
Hooper's hundred at Antigua was his fifth against India in 15 Tests
out of a total of 13 centuries in 96 Tests.
The Indians, thus, must be at a loss to understand why they cannot do
what other teams have been able to. There are some players who take a
liking to a particular team, and in Hooper's case, it unfortunately
happens to be India. Much the same thing can be said about Shivnarine
Chanderpaul, who made his third century of the series - his fourth
against India - at Antigua.
In his early days, Hooper was dubbed another Viv Richards. But he lost
that tag over a period of time with his unpredictable play and was
part of the West Indian side for long without being taken seriously by
any opposition. After he came out of retirement to helm the side in
the interest of West Indian cricket, however, he had to play
responsibly by dint of his position.
Hooper could not do much during his team's tour to Sri Lanka or the
South African tour of the Caribbean - both series that West Indies
lost. His best series performance before the current tour was against
Zimbabwe, but that has been outstripped heavily by his feats in the
last four Tests. He has shown no mercy to any of the Indian bowlers,
completely dominating them. It would be no surprise if Ganguly and his
bowlers had nightmares about Hooper once the series ends, much like
Shane Warne had bad dreams about Sachin Tendulkar. Till such time,
however, let us enjoy the play of gifted Carl Hooper, a player who is
trying his best to make up for wasting his talent during the earlier
part of his career.
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