Captains two sides come together as one

There is always a sense of excitement that accompanies Mahendra Singh Dhonis walk to the crease....

There is always a sense of excitement that accompanies Mahendra Singh Dhonis walk to the crease. And even though his team had taken firm control of the game by the time the Indian skipper came out to bat,the welcome he received at the Brabourne Stadium was raucous as ever.

In his short international career,Dhoni has already had to don a variety of roles keeper,captain,dasher,finisher. On Friday,his job was to shepherd the tail and stretch Indias first-innings lead as much as possible,while also extending Sri Lankas agony on the field.

The Indian captain shifted between butcher and tactician with consummate ease in a century that included six sixes one short of Sehwags effort in the innings and only three fours.

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With Muttiah Muralitharan and Rangana Herath receiving more assistance from the Brabourne wicket,and Sangakkara intent on setting defensive fields seven on the leg and two on the off at one point Dhoni started off by picking the gaps. But VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh fell in quick succession to leave Dhoni,who hadnt touched 20 yet,stranded with the tail.

He didnt go straight to the Steve Waugh manual though. He showed a lot of faith in Zaheer Khan,not shying away from giving him the strike,as the pair added 32 runs in a laborious partnership that lasted 16 overs. It was Zaheers dismissal that prompted Dhoni to look for the big shots.

Each time Sangakkara spread the field,Dhoni resisted the temptation of the easy single despite hitting the ball extremely hard towards the outfielders. And when the field was brought in for the last two balls of an over,he either cleared the fence or kept strike for the next over. Dhoni added 23 runs with Sreesanth before putting on an unbeaten stand of 52 with Pragyan Ojha.

The ease with which Dhoni controlled proceedings in the second half of the day prompted Sehwag to say that his captains 153- ball effort was the best hundred he had seen being scored with lower-order batsmen.

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When Ojha went out to bat Dhoni was in the sixties. Everyone knows he can hit sixes and he capitalised on the situation very well by playing out four or five deliveries in every over before hitting them, he said.