Gambhir once More

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that in case the tired New Zealand bowlers have nightmares in the coming days,the probability is high that a short left-handed batsman with nimble footwork might figure in them prominently. In the last two Tests,five New Zealand bowlers have bowled over 100 hundred balls to Gambhir with skipper Daniel Vettori heading the list with 172 ineffective deliveries.

As the series nears its end,the pre-tour talk about Vettori knowing the Achilles’ heel of his Delhi Daredevils team mates as he had bowled at them at the nets during IPL’s Season One seems naive.

In the zone

They say that familiarity breeds contempt and Gambhir proved it with his play on Sunday. Since the left-hander has faced the New Zealand bowlers more often than his team mates of late,he had a been-there-seen-that air in his approach. He could pre-empt the bowlers’ plans and read what was coming his way when fielders were moved around.

When Vettori flighted the ball on his off stump with a packed off-side field and a slip in place to induce a mishit,Gambhir stepped out to hit it to the wide mid-wicket for a four or lobbed it over the long-on fence for a six. The opener also showed that he isn’t the kind to repeat mistakes. In the first innings,he was out lbw to the left-arm pacer James Franklin as he very typically walked down the track to counter his swing but missed the line. On Sunday,he wasn’t venturing out and waited in the crease to steer the bowler to the gully fence for four.

Before getting him out,O’Brien had tried the short ball against Gambhir. There were slips in place to take an edge if the batsman faltered while fending the ball. But the opener wasn’t into fending on Sunday as he guided it over the slips with an angled bat and the ball sailed over the fence. With Gambhir always a step ahead of the bowlers,he seemed like a batsman playing the bowling machine with prior knowledge of the gears and swing settings.

Golden touch

Adaptability has been another of Gambhir’s strong points. The two contrasting knocks in Napier and Wellington proved that he can read the situation well,and on Sunday he showed that even the strong wind couldn’t blow away his golden touch. “It was tough because sometimes when you are in your stance and the wind is so strong,it just takes you away. And when someone is bowling with the wind,his pace increases and the ball comes much quicker than someone who is bowling against it. So,you have to adjust and it is a bit of a challenge but we’ve never played in conditions like this,” he said.

These are the days when Gambhir walks out with glue pots and no bowler — or the strong wind,for that matter — can send him back to the pavilion in a hurry. All they can do give him a pat and push when he has done enough.