Pathan is Now An All-Arounder
The second test at Faisalabad has started and something interesting has happened. No, it isn’t that Pakistan is clobbering the Indian bowling attack – that was expected. And I expect the Indians will return the favor when their time comes to bat.
No, what is interesting is that India, for the first time since facing Bangladesh in 2000, has gone in with a 5-bowler attack. This means that Irfan Pathan is now an all-arounder: he will bat seventh and take the spot of a specialty batsman. And guess which specialty batsman?
The test also, in effect, marks the end of Sourav Ganguly’s illustrious test cricket career. If India continues with Pathan as all-arounder, there will be no spot for Ganguly in the squad.
Now this is speculation, but I can guess what the row between Dravid and Ganguly was in the last test. Dravid originally selected Ganguly to open and Ganguly felt he should have been warned that he was been put into this new position before the eve of the Test (like Ganguly warned any of his makeshift openers?). Dravid sensed that if Ganguly failed as opener, Dravid would be blamed for ending Ganguly’s career. He simply decided then and there that he would open. And then it dawned on Ganguly that he had copulated with himself. That is when he got into the big argument with Dravid. But Dravid had made up his mind: he didn’t really think Ganguly could respect his authority so he wasn’t going to change his mind.
But now Dravid has painted himself in a corner. If Yuvraj does well at number 5, can Dravid get back into the middle order? This is very interesting.
No, what is interesting is that India, for the first time since facing Bangladesh in 2000, has gone in with a 5-bowler attack. This means that Irfan Pathan is now an all-arounder: he will bat seventh and take the spot of a specialty batsman. And guess which specialty batsman?
The test also, in effect, marks the end of Sourav Ganguly’s illustrious test cricket career. If India continues with Pathan as all-arounder, there will be no spot for Ganguly in the squad.
Now this is speculation, but I can guess what the row between Dravid and Ganguly was in the last test. Dravid originally selected Ganguly to open and Ganguly felt he should have been warned that he was been put into this new position before the eve of the Test (like Ganguly warned any of his makeshift openers?). Dravid sensed that if Ganguly failed as opener, Dravid would be blamed for ending Ganguly’s career. He simply decided then and there that he would open. And then it dawned on Ganguly that he had copulated with himself. That is when he got into the big argument with Dravid. But Dravid had made up his mind: he didn’t really think Ganguly could respect his authority so he wasn’t going to change his mind.
But now Dravid has painted himself in a corner. If Yuvraj does well at number 5, can Dravid get back into the middle order? This is very interesting.
posted by Michael Higgins at
07:09
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4 Comments:
Don't be surprised if he opens - a Manoj Prabhakar of sorts. Just hope he does not go the Manoj way :)
By
Nilu, at 10:03 AM
Dravid is too versatile a batsman to be bogged down by uncertainties of his own batting position! He has shown time and again that he can adapt to any position!
By
Unknown, at 4:46 AM
Hi Nilu and Vikram
Nilu: Unfortunately, now that Pathan is officially an "all-arounder" he is bowling like one. Hopefully he won't bat like a tail-ender.
Vikram: Dravid is a tremendous player and could succeed in many positions. However, he is the greatest number 3 batsmen India has ever produced. I think it would be madness to mess around with something like that.
By
Michael Higgins, at 4:27 PM
Hi Vikram
Hopefully Pathan will be back to bowling well very soon. If bowls like he did in the first innings again and again, he will be out of the team no matter how well he bats. He has to tend to his day job first.
By
Michael Higgins, at 9:40 AM
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