>> Saturday, January 16, 2010
Bangladesh... a pretty ordinary Test side
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India were supposed to train from 9.30 a.m. on Saturday, but dense fog meant the team had to delay practice. Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh skipped the optional session and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, after a game of football, some fielding and keeping practice left early.
Everything was going on smoothly till Virender Sehwag, addressed the media at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and an off-the-field duel began.
“Do you think Bangladesh can surprise you?” someone asked.
“In one-day (cricket), they can surprise anyone but not in Tests,” came a curt reply from the stand-in captain.
“Don't you think they can beat you?” came a second question.
“I don't think so,” said Sehwag.
“Absolutely no chance?”
“No, Bangladesh is a pretty ordinary Test side. It’s difficult for Bangladesh to take 20 wickets. With the batting line-up we have, I don't think so. Sri Lanka couldn't do that so I don't think Bangladesh can either. It's going to be very, very difficult for Bangladesh. It's not overconfidence. We are just confident that we can bat well here on Bangladesh wickets,” Sehwag said raising a few eyebrows in the local media.
When the Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan and coach Jamie Siddons came in next, all questions revolved around Sehwag's remarks.
“Actually it's difficult to say whether our bowlers can take 20 wickets before the match has even started. I think the answer to this would come after the Test match. Sehwag's remarks would not be charging us up further. If we are carried away by such remarks it can backfire,” Shakib said trying to look as calm as possible.
Of course, he had been briefed by the local media before he came to the conference and, waiting for the right opportunity, he struck.
“Do you rate India as the real No. 1 in Test cricket?” was the question.
“India have become No. 1 just recently but I think South Africa and Australia are better teams. It's my observation and I have seen these teams play Test matches and that's how I feel about them,” he said.
Siddons was asked the same thing. “He should stay away from mikes,” Siddons said. “Every team has good and bad phases. His comments might bite him on his bum in a few years time. It might even hit him in the bum in a week's time. We are definitely not an ordinary side. That's what we are hoping to show in this Test series. We could hopefully prove Sehwag wrong.”
Dhoni out with back spasms - Sehwag becomes public enemy No.1; Shakib hits back | |||
| LOKENDRA PRATAP SAHI | |||
Chittagong: The captain who took India to the No.1 position in Test cricket won’t be leading in the first match as the numero uno team. Why? Because Mahendra Singh Dhoni has again been laid low by back spasms and is out of the opening Test of the two-match series, against Bangladesh, beginning here on Sunday. Dhoni just didn’t feel right after Saturday morning’s optional nets and, so, the captaincy will rest with Virender Sehwag. With so much of cricket, and in all forms, expect others to also have one problem or the other before the season ends. Sehwag, by the way, appears to have become public enemy No.1 after calling Bangladesh an “ordinary side,” lacking the firepower to take 20 Indian wickets and, thereby, incapable of winning. The stand-in captain’s salvo outraged many, but the more realistic Bangladeshis accepted that Sehwag had been pretty spot-on, only he ought to have somewhat sweetened the bitter pill. But, then, Sehwag isn’t one much concerned with niceties. Both on and off the field. Nor does he intend joining the diplomatic corps. Not to be left behind, the Bangladesh captain, Shakib-al Hasan, countered by saying that while Sehwag was entitled to his opinion, he felt South Africa and Australia were the “top teams,” not India. “Much better,” is how he put it, just to rub it in. It’s to be seen whether there’s any drama on the park during the contest for the Idea Cup, but there certainly has been much hungama in the lead up. From a marketing perspective, it couldn’t have got better. With both Sehwag, who’d addressed the media without revealing anything about Dhoni’s fitness, and Shakib holding nothing back, there’s much at stake for them personally, too. Now, they’d better walk the talk. The war of words notwithstanding, Shakib made the point that his side would actually be taking it “session by session” and “day by day.” Meanwhile, the team management has excluded Pragyan Ojha, who played in the last two Tests (against Sri Lanka), from the XII and kept Amit Mishra instead. “Ojha was very good in the Tests that he played in (Kanpur, Mumbai), but Mishra is the one currently bowling well... Form has to be a key factor,” a well-placed source told The Telegraph. Left-armer Ojha had been dropped for the tri-series, while leggie Mishra made a comeback. Depending on how the Z.A. Chowdhury Stadium wicket looks in the morning, either Mishra or quick Ishant Sharma will make the XI. A 3-1 attack, therefore, is a possibility. Given Chittagong’s location, it’s breezy through the day. Besides, one can expect a fair amount of moisture at the start. Later, though, the batsmen may have a real ball. “I hope we lose the toss... For, right now, we don’t know what to do,” quipped the Bangladesh coach, Jamie Siddons. Knowing Sehwag, he’d almost surely be looking to call correctly and straightaway taking guard. TEAMS INDIA: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Amit Mishra/Ishant Sharma. BANGLADESH (likely): Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes/Junaid Siddiqui, Roqibul Hassan, Mohammed Ashraful, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib-al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Enamul Haque (Jr), Rubel Hossain, Shahdat Hossain. Umpires: Billy Bowden, Marais Erasmus; TV: Enamul Haque. Match Referee: Andy Pycroft. Match starts: 9 am (IST). SOURCE :- telegraphindia.com |
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