A long and tiring day for captain cool
Bobilli Vijay Kumar
Napier: The word was out very, very late in the night only. But it wasn’t until morning, when Virender Sehwag slipped into his blazer, that Dhoni’s late pullout sunk in. First, there was incredulity and, then, shock at the turn of events.
For Viru, however, even though it was a great honour and moment of happiness to lead India, it was just another day in the office. He stepped out as captain but continued walking into the field like any other player.
Only after a few steps did he realize that he had to wait for the rest of the team. He did that, checked with Zaheer Khan his preferred end, quietly took his position at gully: no huddle, no words of encouragement or too much noise.
He watched phlegmatically as the first two overs went by, and the pitch showed no signs of assistance for his bowlers. It was only when Zaheer was preparing for his third over that Sehwag went up to him, had a longish word and, with his (Zaheer’s) sweater and hat, ran up to the umpire.
He didn’t show too much emotion when the first two wickets fell, and shook his head like he normally does and flashed a smile, when he himself dived to take a catch for India’s third wicket. The next four hours were hell though.
He had to watch in dismay as Taylor and Ryder did to bowlers what he normally does to them. He remained cool though and barely showed resignation or frustration; there were no tantrums or loud words when catches were dropped or edges went by justmoved fielders.
For the most part, Sehwag had at least two players in catching position; he stationed two others to man the short, square boundaries too, one at point and one at square leg. When batting became easier, he had three drive-saving fielders in the arc from covers to mid-off.
Overall, he seemed to be in control. The only time he became really excited was when Yuvraj Singh grabbed a floating catch to break the Taylor-Ryder partnership: he raced all the way to his deputy (?) and jumped into his arms. Unfortunately, for him, the collapse didn’t come even after that.
DHONI’S BACK
Like always, the clue for the next day was there to see on Wednesday itself. MS Dhoni, after attending the press conference, went straight to the massage table. While the others batted, bowled and fielded, he simply waited for the physio to work on his magic.
After nearly 30 minutes, he and Dinesh Karthik went along with Robin Singh to a set of stumps away from the nets. There, instead of he himself working on the edges, he made Karthik do all the dirty work. First, the ball was hit straight at the wicket, and
then, his bat acted as deflection.
Then, for a few minutes, Dhoni also tried his hand at squatting and rising. He didn’t even bother to wear his pads. He went back to the massage table after this one more time; maybe that is when he realized that it was not going to work. In the morning, he didn’t even bother to step out of his tracks.
SLIP UPS
Apart from batting depth, India also have a great catching record in slips. With Dravid, Laxman and Tendulkar taking more than 100 each, the bowlers normally expect almost everything to be taken.
But on Thursday, many edges flew past the slip cordon, dropped short or even spilled out. Dravid, who is waiting for his 182nd catch to become the best in Test cricket, failed to latch on to a tough one when Taylor was in his 90s.
Yuvraj Singh, however, let go an easy one when the same batsman had barely opened his account. He just failed to react to it in good time. He is, of course, not a specialist slipper; he had to stand at third slip because Tendulkar couldn’t take his normal place due to an injury in the last match. It clearly had a huge impact on the game.
bobilli.vijay@timesgroup.com
