The Hindu : Sport : Dhoni likely to don the big gloves

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 23, 2004

Sport

Sport

Dhoni likely to don the big gloves

By Sanjay Rajan

— Photo: V.V. Krishnan

ALL SET FOR THE BIG STAGE: M.S. Dhoni, who will relieve Rahul Dravid from wicket-keeping duties, practises on the eve of the first one-dayer against Bangladesh in Chittagong.

CHITTAGONG, DEC. 22 . Bangladesh's one-day record is only marginally better than its performance in Test cricket. At least it has victories to show. Also, two of its five wins in 98 outings came against Test nations — over Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup and, more recently, against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2003-04.

The home team's coach, Dav Whatmore, felt his side was capable of pinching the odd game off a really good team, but that in terms of being competitive, stood its best chance against Zimbabwe, which it meets in January.

The host's skipper, Habibul Bashar, was only being realistic when he said that his side would approach the three-match limited-overs series against India as an opportunity to ready itself for the series against the African nation.

The opening encounter is a day match at the M.A. Aziz Stadium here on Thursday, while the remaining two will be played back-to-back under lights at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on December 26 and 27.

Chance for newcomers

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly announced that the new-comers would get to play in all three matches. "We have not decided on the final XI yet, but the youngsters will play all of them. The senior memers — Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and I — will swap, will rotate. We will decide on the combination later," said the left-handed batsman from Bengal.

It was evident during practice that wicketkeeper M.S. Dhoni would make his debut in the first one-dayer. Ganguly confirmed later that Dravid would not be keeping wickets.

"It is a dream come true for me to play alongside leading lights like Tendulkar, Dravid and the others," said the well-built 'keeper-bat from Jharkhand.

Yuvraj, Kaif to play

Clearly, Yuvraj Singh and Md. Kaif would play the first match. The duo's last international appearance was during the Test series against Australia. Kaif scored two half centuries while Yuvraj's decision to open the batting ended in disappointment.

Ganguly said the think-tank would try out various permutations and combinations in the three games to help decide on the best possible 14 for the home series (ODIs) against Pakistan in February.

The skipper agreed that the side had not done well in the one-dayers after the Pakistan series last March. Since then, India lost in the final of the Asia Cup, failed to qualify for the tri-series final in The Netherlands, lost to England in the NatWest Challenge three-match series and won just one match in the Champions Trophy.

"We discussed that during the team meetings the last two days. We realise that our performances need to get better, for which various aspects need to be looked at, which we are. To begin with, we want to win this series in a nice manner," said Ganguly.

The Indian captain said he would not be taking Bangladesh lightly. "One-day cricket is different. Unlike Test matches, you do not have time to recover. If you are kept quiet for even five to seven overs, it becomes difficult to get back. It is this aspect which allows any side to post a challenge in the shorter form of the game. I am pretty much sure Bangladesh will compete well in the three matches."

Regarding the controversy surrounding off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's doosra, Ganguly said, "The BCCI has taken up the issue. These things have happened to bowlers in the past, actions have been worked upon and bowlers have come back and played. So I do not think it should be a major threat to Harbhajan."

Mahmud recalled

Bangladesh has recalled all-rounder Khaled Mahmud for the first one-dayer, based on his strong performances in the Premier League. The host also announced its XII and medium-pacer Mashrafe Mortaza and opener Javed Omar do not figure in it. Bashar said Md. Rafique, known for his abilities as a pinch-hitter, would open the batting with Nafis Iqbal. The two did duty at the top of the order in the final one-dayer against New Zealand in November.

Bangladesh's strength in the shorter form is its varied bowling options backed by strong fielding. "We'll focus on putting the ball in the right places," said Bashar.

Let the final word be Whatmore's. "I wish Ashraful's century (second Test) inspires and spurs the others on," said the Australian.

The teams:

India (from): S. Ganguly (captain), R. Dravid (vice-captain), S. Tendulkar, V. Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, M. Kaif, M.S. Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Harbhajan Singh, I. Pathan, A. Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, M. Kartik, Joginder Sharma, D. Mongia and S. Sriram.

Bangladesh (from): H. Bashar (captain), N. Iqbal, J. Omar, R. Saleh, M. Ashraful, A. Ahmed, K. Mashud (wicket-keeper), M. Rahman, K. Mahmud, M. Islam, M. Rafique, T. Baisya, M. Mortaza and N. Hossain.

Umpires: A. Dar (Pak) & Mahbub-ur-Rahman (Ban). Third umpire: Nadir Shah (Ban).

Hours of play (IST): 8.30 a.m. to 12 noon, 12.40 p.m. till close.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport