The Hindu : Sport : Kumble and Bhajji love bowling together

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 24, 2005

Sport

Sport

Kumble and Bhajji love bowling together

By Sourav Ganguly

When I went home after the fourth day's play in the Kolkata Test, I was quite jittery. I spent a very uneasy night because though the Eden wicket was yielding a bit of spin and bounce, it was not a typical fifth day surface and I was not sure picking nine wickets on the last day would be easy.

However, the way our bowlers bowled, especially Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, it showed that the quality of our attack was superior to that of our opponents. Kumble showed yet again why he is our No. 1 match-winner. I have no doubt in my mind that he will end up with at least 600 wickets when he retires from the game. It would be tough to fill the void as bowlers like him are rare, but we will worry about that when the time comes.

For now, Kumble is on top of his game and ready to win us more games. I feel he bowls best with Harbhajan at the other end. And why not? They are two of the greatest spinners in contemporary international cricket, and even though Bhajji didn't pick up too many wickets, he bowled well and kept up the pressure at the other end.

Balaji seems to be getting better by the day. He enjoys bowling to left-handers, so it was no surprise when he got Taufeeq Umar early on the fifth morning. No praise can be too high for Rahul Dravid and Dinesh Kaarthick for the manner in which they batted on the fourth day to put us in a winning position.

Two hundreds in a Test speak volumes for Rahul's mental toughness and fitness, for it was very hot and humid out there in the middle.

I am very happy for young Dinesh. It was a quality knock under pressure. He seems to have plenty of time to play fast bowlers which is the sign of a good batsman. He is a guy with a positive frame of mind. All he needs to do is get more consistent. It will lend more solidity to our side.

Now it's on to Bangalore, where it's unusually hot. This should help us as the wicket at the Chinnaswamy stadium will get drier and break up a bit in the later stages. To be 1-0 up in the series is a good position to be in as it is less pressure for the captain. We will make all efforts to clinch it 2-0.

Surprised

I am surprised that Harbhajan has once again been reported for a suspect action. He is still young with the potential to become one of the greatest spinners in world cricket.

The ICC needs to handle the matter a bit sensitively because it had cleared him only two weeks ago. Its support is very much required for Harbhajan and I am sure that it will come soon. He is the sort of player who draws crowds.

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