Strange as it sounds at a time when India lead the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 1-0, this Diwali will have been an uneasy time for more than one Indian in the dressing room and it has nothing to do with the number of sweets consumed.
A time for celebration also marks the time for rolling in changes. On the eve of the Delhi Test at the Ferozeshah Kotla, celebrations will be mute and the mood more serious than expected at the time of one of India’s biggest, brightest, not to mention noisiest festivals.
The Australians and Ricky Ponting have plenty of points to worry about, including tackling the spinners and making their top order batsmen contribute and compensate for their obvious deficiency in the same spin department as also of containing a buoyant Indian team at home. The Australians cannot afford to slip up at a place considered sacred for Kumble. While the talk emanating from their dressing room is aimed to put pressure on the Indians and claiming that the team would be desperate to close out the series, there is no doubt the visitors’ reputation is at stake and they would have to do much more than the Indians in order to keep the series alive.
Anil Kumble has heard and seen enough of how Mahendra Singh Dhoni requires no further grooming. His attempt to declare himself fit ahead of the Delhi Test comes as no surprise given that Dhoni has twice proved himself - one when Kumble left the field in the Bengaluru Test and in leading the team in Mohali - while Kumble, apart from his merited reputation, has a few questions whose answers he will be quick to send out.
The Indian skipper’s problems have been compounded by the fact that his replacement, Amit Mishra, proved a handful for the Australians and has been more probing that Kumble has been in the last two series. The prospect of playing three spinners would be tempting but it would mean the management has to make the difficult decision of deciding which of the batsmen has to sit out.
In light of that, the injury to Harbhajan Singh’s toe cannot really be called a blessing in disguise because it is a blow. Harbhajan, besides Zaheer Khan, has been persevering and should the injury keep him out, more than one Australian will be smiling to himself over the unexpected fortunes.
As far as the batsmen go, this will probably be their last Diwali doing duty for more than one Indian stalwart. While Sourav Ganguly has already announced his retirement, and answered critics with a century in Mohali, Sachin Tendulkar will also be certainty in Delhi V.V.S. Laxman perhaps has the greater task of convincing the selectors that he should be persisted with. Given his record against the Australians, it remains to be seen if the selectors can risk benching him. Rahul Dravid has batted well enough to deserve another chance which makes Laxman’s task more difficult.
The Challenger Series came and went by without much focus. Part of the explanation for that stems from the international series which has not spared headlines even in the break between Tests. The other part has been the fact that no single player has emerged who has single handedly claimed stake for a Test spot. While there will be no immediate changes to the squad at least in the series against Australia, this is the pre-transition period for India and if they can find a few answers early, perhaps they would not have to resort to the unnecessary verbal chatter that has been the ploy of the Australians to unsettle the Indians, be it the Adam Gilchrist’s take on Sachin Tendulkar, or the obsession with Harbhajan-Symonds “monkeygate” madness or struggling opener Matthew Hayden’s opinion of Zaheer Khan.
