India favourites at soggy Eden

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, September 20

The sky remained overcast for much of the day, and the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) officials, the ground staff and the general cricket fans pretty downcast. It was late in the afternoon that the dark clouds finally allowed faint sun rays to pierce though, and spread some cheer all around. The waiting army of ground staff — there are around 70 of them — immediately got to work: One group lifted the covers from the wicket to let it soak in some sunlight, and others removed a few from the outfield. Almost three hours of sunlight and some fresh air would go a long way in preparing the ground for the match tomorrow, provided there’s no more rain.

Watching the gloom lifting a little, and then the covers coming off the ground, the Indian team, too, cheered up. The players, including skipper Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja and Yuzvendra Chahal, brought out a football and knocked it around for about 20 minutes in a small lawn in front of their dressing room. They were all laughing, pulling each other’s leg... 

Even Ravindra Jadeja, who had been originally “rested” and was brought in later as a cover for the injured Axar Patel, even though he’s at the top of his game, looked happy and upbeat.

Focus on Rahane 

Even though the team seems to be in a great mental space, it’s not that India have nothing to worry about heading into the second match of the series. The victory in the rain-interrupted opening game took much of the focus away from their top-order collapse, but heading into tomorrow’s game, it would definitely be on their mind. Much of the focus would be on Ajinkya Rahane. After much uncertainty about his batting position in the ODIs, the team has decided to use him at the top of the order in the absence of first-choice openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan. While he has the temperament and skills to be a successful opener, his numbers at this position need some improvement — in the 50 matches he has opened, he averages a rather ordinary 34.6 and the strike rate of 76.21 also isn’t up to scratch. The middle order, too, has been found a little inadequate in the last few games, illustrated by the fact that Dhoni, coming in at No. 6, has been either building or finishing the innings almost in every game starting from the Sri Lanka tour.

Bowlers having a ball

Interestingly, the Indian bowling unit seems absolutely trouble-free, working like a well-oiled machine. They have been very impressive in the recent past, and that has given them a lot of confidence, so much so that Kuldeep Yadav, a rookie chinaman, didn’t have any qualms in declaring that David Warner would be under a lot of pressure while facing him.  “I’ve dismissed him five times (it’s actually four times) in six matches, and I feel he’s under some pressure when he faces me,” said Yadav. “I love bowling to him because I always feel I can get him.” 

Well, not many bowlers sound so confident of their chances against the Australian opener.  While Australian skipper Steve Smith refused to read too much into his batsmen’s capitulation in their 21-over innings in Chennai, there’s no denying the fact that Australia depend too much on him and Warner, and that gives the hosts a big edge.

Wicket an enigma?

With the wicket staying under the covers for much of the time right ahead of the match, it could become a little unpredictable.  Smith, too, wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. “Little bit of grass on it. It’s more than I’ve seen in India for a while. Looks alright, few cracks on the wicket but I don’t think they will play a part,” he said. “I will have another look tomorrow, see what the weather is doing, they might cut it (grass).” All said, there would be some moisture in the wicket, and the quicks from both sides would like it. And if it continues to stay overcast, like it was in Chennai, the pacers would like it even more.