The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Kumble can turn it India's way: Dhoni

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 07, 2006

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Sport - Cricket

Kumble can turn it India's way: Dhoni

Special Correspondent

St. John's: Indian wicketkeeper M.S. Dhoni said leg-spinner Anil Kumble could be the difference between the sides on the final day of the first Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground here.

"We have on our side Anil Kumble who is the most difficult bowler to bat against, particularly on the fifth day," he said. "Our bowlers will have to bowl their hearts out. They (West Indies) have some good batsmen, their batting line-up is strong."

Australian coach Bennett King, though, sought to downplay Kumble's influence: "You tell me. Does Anil turn the ball a lot?" he asked rhetorically when questioned if the wicket would help the leg-spinner. "I didn't see much to tell if he could turn it."

King said his side did well to contain India till Dhoni exploded. "They started at four or five an over and we pegged them back to about three. And we kept them that way till about the last hour when Dhoni came out and swung his axe. He took a little bit away from us.''

"But I still think 380 is manageable. In a day it is a tough ask, but we are not shying away from the fact that we want to win the game," said the Australian.

King's praise for Wasim Jaffer's 212, however, was grudging. "Congratulations to him. He got 200. Any Test 200 is a very good score. But we had our chances against him. We are looking to confront him in the next game."

Was King surprised Lara kept his spinners on despite Dhoni lining them up? "The captain plays it the way he sees it. Brian (Lara) has got pretty good instincts. He saw there was an opportunity to get him out. There was also an opportunity to score some big runs. You throw the coin, you throw the dice, it's got to go one way or the other. Perhaps this day it went the other way."

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