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Journalism of Courage
It took just about a day and-a-half for the West Indies to rub it in — by dropping Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan, Team India had done them a huge favour.
And, even if Rahul Dravid’s XI manage to survive the Caribbean batting storm, dropping two players with 74 Tests and 316 wickets between them for the opening game of a crucial series will remain one of the most talked-about selection calls in a long, long time — after Sourav Ganguly, of course.
The team’s official line has only added to the confusion. “We have 16 players with us, and naturally only the final XI will play in the Test match. Irfan and Harbhajan have been there in the one-day squad also, they have been rested for a while,” said manager Ravi Savant, adding, “We are looking forward to the ICC Champions Trophy and the World Cup.”
Rested? For the Champions Trophy? And we all thought there was this crucial Test series happening here. While the skipper was unavailable for comment, Chappell told this paper, “We thought this was an ideal XI for the conditions.”
Apparently, the team management decided that it was a turf that would benefit the pacers, which meant Harbhajan was out and an extra batsman drafted to handle Fidel ‘Castro’ Edwards, the fastest bowler in the Caribbean, and Corey Collymore, the most accurate. And Pathan? “He is a bit low on confidence, so we didn’t want to destroy that further,” said Chappell.
So there you are, when the West Indies bat last — if India manage to stretch it till then — it will be a face-off that will test the nerves of even the staunchest supporters of this team: Anil Kumble with debutant VRV Singh and two-Test pacers S. Sreesanth and Munaf Patel vs Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo.
And at least one of the ‘rested’ players isn’t smiling. Harbhajan is understood to be extremely disappointed, especially after he looked to be running into some sort of form and control here after that nightmare, wicketless series in Pakistan, and the average outing against England that followed. Even Lara, who struggled to get him away in the one-dayers, is learnt to have been surprised at this one.
But Pathan, who has played the last 17 Tests on the trot, seemed to have got a hint that he may not play, going by the elaborate drama surrounding him here — special bowling sessions, extra time with sport psychologist Dr Rudi Webster. But even he wouldn’t have the answer to this one: for how long will the team decide to let him rest, regain his confidence? Remember, till not too long ago, he was our strike bowler.
Then again, when a player is low on confidence, would you rather give him a chance to play more, strike the right line, length and rhythm? Or is it rest, and more rest. The Baroda pacer was at the team hotel’s Indian restaurant yesterday with MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, joking with the staff, posing with fans. The signboard said ‘Utsav’. Hardly.
