Dhoni read it wrong,got it right

Going with three pacers on a spin-friendly track didnt hurt India as Nehra kept it tight.

A sense of collective outrage swept through TV studios and,probably,homes all around India when MS Dhoni won the toss and announced that R. Ashwin was making way for Ashish Nehra. Ashwin had taken four wickets in two matches at an average of 23.25,conceding 4.65 runs an over.

Nehra had taken one wicket in two matches and given away 87 runs at the economy rate of 6.36. He had bowled the disastrous last over in the defeat against South Africa.At the presentation ceremony after the match,Dhoni admitted that India,in deciding to go with three seamers,had read the pitch wrong. But the way the seamers bowled,and specifically the way Nehra bowled,negated all this. The left-armer bowled a remarkable spell,with plenty of control and nous,and used the slowness of the wicket to his advantage.

Key to this was his regular use of the slower delivery with an off-cutter action. He pitched this ball on different lengths,but his line was a constant 8211; a diagonal leading from his point of release from left-arm-over to the base of off stump. The Pakistani batsmen tried to carve him through the off side or run him down to third man,but the ball seldom arrived at the length or pace they expected.

In all,Nehra beat Pakistans exclusively right-handed batsmen,wafting outside off stump,nine times in ten overs. Considering his angle,and where the ball usually passed the batsmen,they scored an incredibly low proportion of their runs on the off side seven in all,with three singles and one boundary.

By the end of his spell,he made the batsmens life even more difficult with reverse swing. He moved his length fuller,and his line slightly wider. Wahab Riaz,who had been the left-arm pace hero in the afternoon,was made to look clueless. Backing away,he missed four balls out of four 8211; three full and wide deliveries,one bouncer following his premeditated movement towards the leg side. The fifth ball was full and wide again,but a touch slower. Riaz flung his bat at it,and the ball sliced off his bat into the gnarled hands of Sachin Tendulkar at cover.

Two more balls into his spell,Nehra sent down the fast,reverse-swinging yorker,starting well outside leg but bending late and viciously to strike Umar Gul on the base of his front pad in front of the stumps. The rhythm,seen only fleetingly in the group stages,was back in full measure. True to his unrelenting horses-for-courses policy,Dhoni might leave Nehra out of his eleven at Mumbai if he thinks he needs two frontline spinners 8211; considering that Munaf Patels display was just as impressive. But the left-armer has made sure that his skipper wont take the decision without a great deal of soul-searching.