Sport

Onus on Bashar to stop the Men in Blue

Vijay Lokapally

FORCING HIS WAY THROUGH: Dinesh Karthik has finally arrived to demand his place in the team. — PHOTO: AFP

DHAKA: The profuse praise from Rahul Dravid was Dinesh Karthik's biggest gain from the contest that he swung India's way in the company of M.S. Dhoni. The half-century was a fitting way to cap an appearance on a hot and humid day where he did some running around before settling down into a batting display that must have convinced many of his potential in front of the wickets too.

"Let us not label him just as a wicketkeeper. If he shows promise with the bat, why not consider him as a batsman.'' It was a perfect assessment by Dravid of a youngster, who has finally arrived to demand his place in the team.

Dravid, who has set exacting standards for himself, is not known to push or promote any cricketer unless he is sure of his judgement. Seven years ago he would make it a point to mention Mohammad Kaif as a batsman to watch. If Kaif fell short of the expectations, it was not for want of opportunities.

Fascinating journey

But Karthik has just begun a journey that promises to be as fascinating as is his passion to play the game. He is the latest to join the family of wicketkeepers who banked on their batting excellence to secure their places in the team.

Saba Karim, M.S.K. Prasad, Vijay Dahiya, Sameer Dighe, Deep Dasgupta, Ajay Ratra, Parthiv Patel; the list of wicketkeepers who earned India colours but failed to stay long for various reasons in the last seven years is long. Of course there was an exception in Dravid, who did the job with distinction when he took over the responsibility as a stopgap arrangement at the 1999 World Cup and gradually slipped into the role nicely to keep the job at the next edition in South Africa in 2003.

Having gone through the experience, Dravid is best qualified to assess Karthik's role in the team. Given the 22-year-old's penchant to take up a challenge, he can be expected to produce some more glittering performances in the season ahead, now that he has the backing of the team management, not to speak of the confidence that he must have acquired from Thursday's innings.

Shastri's support

Support from Ravi Shastri was yet another feather in Karthik's cap. A thorough professional, Shastri too can be parsimonious in his praise of a youngster but Karthik did plenty to boost his credentials. The dapper wicketkeeper-batsman lends depth to the Indian batting line-up and there was a refreshing change in the attitude when Dhoni and Karthik went about the job, understanding and backing each other.

Dhoni's was a substantial statement on his form and his reading of the situation. He shed his aggression and batted to suit the interests of the team, something that comes naturally to Karthik. He did not change his style and plundered runs with the same positive note that marks his cricket every time he walks to the crease. Dhoni enjoyed his responsibility. "I concentrated on staying until the end,'' he said of the innings.

Bangladesh's moments

There were moments when Bangladesh called the shots, especially when India was reduced to 144 for five with 18 overs to go. The asking rate was more than six an over but Bangladesh allowed the game to drift. Skipper Habibul Bashar, suffering a wretched form, came in for some scathing criticism for his defensive tactics but there was little the Bangladesh bowlers could have done against a determined Dhoni and a motivated Karthik.

The absence of seamer Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was a crucial factor that aided India in the first match and his expected return to the team on Saturday could help Bangladesh give thrust to its spin-dominated attack. The Indians are looking to make it a clean sweep and obviously Bashar, his captaincy under fire, would spend a sleepless night, worrying about ways to stop Dravid and his team.

The teams (from):

India: Rahul Dravid (capt.), Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Ramesh Powar, M.S. Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, S. Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, R.P. Singh and Piyush Chawla.

Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (capt.), Shahriar Nafees Ahmed, Tamim Iqbal Khan, Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mohammed Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Javed Omer, Shahadat Hossain Rajib and Farhad Reza.

Umpires: Asoka de Silva and Enamul Haque; Third umpire: Nadir Shah; Match referee: Roshan Mahanama.

Hours of play (IST): 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.; 1.15 p.m. till close.

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