India prepare to hit back

Pathan likely to play as visitors look to rebound from 135-run defeat in first ODI

Balancing a brimming water bottle on his forehead,Paddy Upton Indias mental conditioning coach bent down slowly to his knees and then to his back,before finally stretching to a horizontal position in the nets area,without spilling a drop of the liquid inside the container. Virat Kohli,Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla clapped,as did Indias newest yoga instructor James Harrington. But a few serene seconds into the calming forces of equilibrium,chaos broke out. As did the water bottle.

Smiling sheepishly with a bat swinging in his hands,Yusuf Pathan apologised vehemently from his crease. As a projectile flew at the speed of knots from his blade towards the balancing act,Upton ducked for dear life. The bottle though,wasnt so fortunate. Everyone took notice of the power generated in the shot,including skipper MS Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten.

Putting on display a rare ability to hit the cover of the leather ball on demand,Pathan enchanted one and all at the elevated nets area of the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. While Dhoni,Rohit Sharma and Harbhajan Singh soon got into the act,making it a four-way competition,Pathan hit it further and longer than the remaining put together. By the end of the evening session,the brick façade of the adjacent Bullring came out second best,as several walls were chipped,damaged and bruised with the terrific might of the all-rounders strokes.

It is anybodys guess whether the power-hitter will be a part of the playing XI on Saturday,but going by his extended practice on the eve of the second one-dayer,Pathan should in all likelihood make his first appearance in the ODI series sooner rather than later. Pathans presence though,will also help strengthen the middle-order,a column that failed India miserably during their 135-run loss at Kingsmead.

Durban disaster

Following Indias defeat,Dhoni was adamant with his decision to play only four bowlers. In Durban,many part-timers were used after Ashish Nehra had a poor day he went for 61 runs in his 6 overs.

It will always remain a debate. Although people may say that if six batsmen cant do the job,seventh wont do it either,I feel if four bowlers cant do their job,how and why will the fifth do it? If you see the history of Indian cricket,we have always been comfortable playing with four bowlers, Dhoni had said at Durban. What we need is an all-rounder, he added. And Pathan is that answer.

Useful for chipping in with a few overs of off-spin,Pathan could well add to Indias multiple fifth bowler role,while also ballooning totals with a few big hits in the slog overs. In the past,India tried the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin in the No.7 spot,but Pathan was the one to hit all the right notes with wickets and runs against New Zealand last month,including a whirlwind 123 not out in Bangalore his highest score. But with Kohli,Rohit and Raina in the XI for the first ODI,the 28-year old was forced to miss out.

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But if Dhonis hints are anything to go by,the big-hitter should be doing more than just bench-warming on Saturday.

The all-rounders slot is the only one where we can experiment. All the other ones,both pure batsmen and pure bowlers,are fixed. This is where you may see one or two changes happening in the series, Dhoni said on Friday.

While Indias session was an explosive one to say the least,South Africas was calm and collected. With overnight showers and a morning drizzle ruining their chances to practice out in the open,the team collected by the basement parking area to sweat it out in the indoor facilities. A winning team exudes confidence,and the Proteas were no different. Everything oozed of tranquil poise on Friday,from South Africas session to the Indian one. Until Pathan proved non-empty vessels also make noise.