India spin a win in Kanpur, clear Test before IPL carnival

The coach doesn’t oblige as he has a television interview to give. But watching the new coach in a sea of happy faces around him, it was clear that the Kanpur trip has helped the coach hop onto Indian cricket’s bandwagon that has been on a roll for some time now.

Dhoni spoke about Kirsten’s rapport with the team. “Of course, it is too early, but I think he is hitting the right areas,” he says.

It isn’t just the coach who’s hitting the right areas, but the entire team did that here after being totally off-target during the three-day loss at Motera. They travelled to Kanpur with a lot on their minds. Sunil Gavaskar had spoken about IPL distractions during the Test series and asked Kirsten to crack the whip. Injury had hit the bowling department hard. There was a question mark over Ishant Sharma, who was returning after an injury.

Intrigue was speculated as shorter-version skipper Dhoni replaced injured Test captain Anil Kumble. The morning that had started with television visuals showing Kumble leaving the team hotel with interpretations of a senior-junior divide in team ended with a number of happy family frames around.

At the award ceremony, Dhoni played the graceful skipper inviting Kumble to pose with rival skipper Graeme Smith and the shared trophy. Earlier, Kumble had rushed out after the India’s win to receive Ganguly and Rahul. He looked out for Sharma, who had played a big role in this crucial game, and gave him a hug before moving towards the dressing room with an arm around Sehwag.

In days of IPL countdown and in the background of the longer version’s diminishing popularity, the timing of this three-day diet Test with its thrill-a-minute excitement has been perfect.

The positives after the Kanpur win have been many. Kirsten seems comfortable after the drawn series, fear of IPL distractions have faded away, seniors have proved their worth to the side and the newest kid on the block, Sharma, has proved more than one point. He can be lethal even at home and he is certainly fit.

With the 9-to-5 schedule over, the players were not guilty to talk about the short Twenty20 evening outings. “IPL is back on our minds. It is wonderful to get to know people you have been playing against will be playing along side you now,” Smith said. At the end of the drawn series, there were no bitter losers or overbearing winners but bonhomie was in the air.