Probably it has something to do with his new-look — the ‘salt and pepper’ hairdo that he sports these days. While playing league cricket in England, Murali Kartik was looking for a whitish tinge to his hair but ended up opting for the more trendy looking style.Though the left-arm spinner may laugh away the comments that his new hairdo has brought him some luck on Tuesday at the VCA stadium, he cannot brush aside the fact that it was definitely one of the better days in office for the Railways boy. Kartik did not run through the Australian batting order on the first day but he did trouble the batsmen keeping a tight leash on them for his best Test figures of 3/57 to date.He produced an armer which forced an indisposed Daren Lehmann to cut straight to Rahul Dravid at slip. Later Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne perished trying to up the ante as Kartik kept the Aussies in check.His performance on Day One was quite in contrast to the one against the same rivals at Sydney on the New Year’s eve. The Australians had marked him out for special treatment, whacking him to all parts of the SCG. Besides being in the wilderness for nine months since that match at Sydney, Kartik was also playing his first Test at home after a long break. He last played against Zimbabwe in Delhi in 2000-01.The Sydney shock, not getting an opportunity to play against Pakistan in the three Tests and that old theory of Ganguly’s alleged dislike for left-arm spinners meant Kartik had a point to prove when stand-in skipper Rahul Dravid threw the ball to him here.But at the same time, Kartik knows that it could be back to carrying drinks once a fit Harbhajan returns. ‘‘I have got to accept that Anil and Harbhajan are bowling exceptionally well and I will always be in their shadow,’’ he said after the game.
