Matt’s patience, and what about poor Vijay?

Rohit Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Kolkata, November 17

Even Matt Hayden, the big Aussie opener known for his brutish attack on the bowlers, was a patient batsman once. A Queensland man, he played a lot of his early cricket at the Gabba in Brisbane, Queensland’s capital. The Gabba wicket used to be very green — it still is often green, but was much more so in the past. Playing in your formative years at the Gabba would be the best possible schooling on how to play on a greentop.

“In my early career, I tried to play straight, tight, close to my body,” Hayden says. “Playing at the Gabba, it taught me how to play on green, seaming wickets. I had a partner at the other end who used to attack almost every ball, but not me. I would try to hang in there… I would think that was my time around tea stage.”

That’s quite a revelation — even Hayden, the destroyer, used to plan far ahead into the day, deciding to attack in only the third session. That’s the only way to play on grassy wickets, says Hayden. The reason is simple — by the third session, the conditions have eased out and the premier seamers are tired.

Hayden says that while the Indian batsmen have “wonderful” talents, they don’t have the ability to leave the ball.

What of Vijay?

Last year, Murali Vijay was being hailed as the best “leaver” of balls outside off-stump in Indian cricket. Then the poor guy hit a rough patch this year — he injured his shoulder while diving in the first Test against Australia at Pune. He missed the second Test and returned for the last two, but then injured his right wrist. It required surgery and he was out of the IPL and the three-Test tour of Sri Lanka.

Dhawan was not originally part of the 16-men squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, but Vijay’s exit opened the door for him. Dhawan had been in very modest form in his previous Tests, with only 261 runs from 13 innings. He got a lifeline in Lanka — he smashed 190 in the first Test and 119 in the third.

The thumb rule of the Indian squad has been that if a player loses his place in the XI due to an injury, when he recovers, he’d be preferred over his replacement. There is one proviso: He must prove his fitness and form in domestic cricket.

Last month, playing in the Ranji Trophy after his return to cricket, Vijay twisted his ankle and had to go off the field for treatment. He came back and ended up with 55, and made 11 and 140 in his next two Ranji Trophy innings. So, his form and fitness were, presumably, to the satisfaction of the Indian team management.

Understandably, it’s very difficult to drop Dhawan on recent Test form. But surely, considering the conditions here, it’s worth pondering that Vijay could have been a better choice than Dhawan.