Clinical Bhajji falls back on patience

Coach Gary Kirsten was in the baby pool enjoying a ball game with his kids as the rest of the squad enjoyed the late-morning sea breeze after a late, lazy breakfast.

Indian bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad is walking around, with a good reason to sport his big, broad smile. Despite the fact that it was the batsman who got the Man of the Match award, it was the bowlers who had a big role to play in India’s series-equalling win.

Inspired show

Prasad speaks about the inspired show by his bowlers — his favourite Ishant Sharma wicket, he says, was the one when he surprised Tillakaratne Dilshan with extra bounce to have him caught behind — but as there were too many magic moments involved, Prasad soon switches to Harbhajan’s 10-wicket haul.

“The main quality that the bowlers need on these wickets is patience. There wasn’t much in the pitch so they had to be focussed all the time. On such wickets you need variations and that’s what Harbhajan had,” said Prasad.

Harbhajan too had spoken about how he had increased his speed through the air during his spell at Galle. It wasn’t that he stuck to the same speed all the time, but he used it as a variation on a pitch where two of the game’s greatest spinners — Muttiah Muralitharan and Anil Kumble — didn’t quite have a great outing. “One needs to mix it up to get success here,” he had said after his early success at Galle.

With this performance, Harbhajan has brushed aside the scepticism that was gradually corroding him. The last time he took a 10-wicket haul was in December, 2005 when Sri Lanka visited India. The off-spinner’s contribution was significant as India won the three-Test series 2-0.

A lot has happened in Harbhajan’s life in between the two Lanka series. He missed the England tour because of injury but played county cricket to find his rhythm. He returned for the Twenty20 World Cup to become skipper MS Dhoni’s trump card in times of crisis. During the Aussie series at home, he made headlines with his on-field verbal duels. Things went out of hand in the away series when he was at the centre of a controversy that almost saw India pulling out the tour.

Slow turn

Things seemed to be settling down when he was named Man of the Series for South Africa’s tour of India, and they looked like getting even better when he was named captain of the Mumbai Indians with Sachin Tendulkar indisposed with injury.

But the good times didn’t last. In fact, they came crashing down one mad night in Mohali, when he slapped India team mate Sreesanth and got separate bans that saw him out of action until this trip.

Bouncing back

Prasad isn’t exaggerating when he says Harbhajan has been through a lot lately. “But he has bounced back because of his never-say-die attitude,” he says.

The patience that Prasad spoke about was evident from Harbhajan’s relaxed bowling style on the field. His approach to the stumps was measured and even when the batsmen attacked him, he didn’t look rattled. If one plan failed, he had other cards up his sleeve. He changed his pace, altered his length, varied the flight and used the crease to throw up new challenges for the batsmen.

With the series tied 1-1, the teams head to the P Sara Stadium — a venue that has the flattest pitch in the series. But with Harbhajan carrying a 10-wicket bag back to Colombo, the Indians will bank on him and his variations to turn things for them.

Bhajji’s Tenner

First innings

• Warnapura dismissed by a flighted delivery on off stump

• Sangakkara falls to a flighted one on leg and middle

• Samaraweera goes to a faster ball that skids on to leg

• Dilshan dismissed by one that dips and bounces

• Jayawardene out to a classic off-spinner that turns and bites

• Muralitharan beaten by flight miscues a shot

Second innings

• Vandort misses an arm-ball from round the wicket

• Jayawardene gets a top-spinner, mistimes his sweep

• Vaas is out to a faster, full-pitched ball on middle and off

•Mendis pulls a short one to mid-on