Rahul Dravid said it was the successful 147-run opening partnership between Dinesh Kaarthick and Wasim Jaffer that made the biggest difference to this Test match at Trent Bridge which India eventually won comfortably by seven wickets on the fifth and final day.Complimenting the way Jaffer and Kaarthick began in the first innings, helping India gain further advantage after restricting England to a paltry 198, Dravid said: “Mostly, a good start puts a lot of things in order. The two openers did a tremendous job in help us get that and it made a lot of things that followed, comparatively easier.”It has been India’s long desire now to have a successful opening pair—the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Aakash Chopra, Yuvraj Singh and Dravid himself having been tried for the role in the past — to help the middle order come good. Now with Sehwag out of the squad, Chopra out of contention, Yuvraj and Gambhir not in the eleven and Dravid and Ganguly shifting to the No. 3 and 5 slots, the focus is on Kaarthick and Jaffer.For Kaarthick, who retained his place in the team after the admirable 63 against South Africa at Newlands last year, it is no longer about competing with Mahendra Singh Dhoni for a wicket-keeper-batsman’s place. The Tamil Nadu batsman has now opened for India in nine Test innings and averages close to 60 in that position.Jaffer, earlier said to have been included in the Test squad only because chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar happened to be from his zone, has also proved his critics wrong. In the last ten Test innings, Jaffer has three centuries and two fifties, a double against the West Indies included, and an average of over 55.“I can tell you how it happened in South Africa. After that we’ve not had to think much about it,” said Kaarthick, when asked to explain how he and Jaffer had been getting along as far as understanding each other out in the middle was concerned. “We batted for the first full session trying to negotiate the pace and swing. It was a difficult hour and we both knew our responsibility. That feeling has somehow been there whenever we’ve walked out again,” Kaarthick said.Jaffer got a century in that game, Kaarthick leaving after his 63, and though India lost that match, it was the beginning of a partnership that has been doing well until now.About the opening stand here at Trent Bridge, Jaffer said: “It was a good wicket to bat on and luck played a role because we won the toss. The wicket had definitely eased out.”The two batsmen scored half-centuries (Kaarthick 77 and Jaffer 62) that laid the foundation for India to register a big total. Going back to Lord’s where the team had been in the most precarious position. ]Losing out on a good opening partnership (though Jaffer got a half-century) made a huge difference and the middle-order succumbed. “It makes a huge psychological difference when you are walking out at number three or four and there are already a 100 runs on the board. Opening is a tough job especially in the given conditions, but if it clicks, a lot of things get easier,” Dravid explained. If the Jaffer-Kaarthick duo clicks again at The Oval, India can look towards winning a series here in England after more than two decades.
