da roleta： At the start of the millennium, Ganguly started the journey to “raiseIndian cricket’s profile overseas”. In so many ways, Dhoni is the best man to carry forward the Ganguly flame

da supremo： Cricinfo staff10-Nov-2008
I’ve got it from here, thanks © AFP
Exactly eight years to the day since he first captained India in a Test,against Bangladesh in Dhaka, Sourav Ganguly marshalled the resources onelast time. The ninth Australian wicket had fallen and the fielders werehovering around Cameron White and Mitchell Johnson with Harbhajan Singhand Amit Mishra having scripted a dramatic post-lunch collapse. It was aremarkable gesture from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and it said much about howquickly he has grown into the job. A less secure man would have wanted tohog the limelight, but by ceding space to one of Indian cricket’s all-timegreats for a couple of overs, Dhoni showed just how aware he was of thebigger picture.It came through in the tactics he employed as well. There had beenscathing comments made about the 8-1 fields and wide bowling on the thirdmorning, but there was tacit acknowledgement from Ricky Ponting that hewould have loved it if his bowlers could have exercised similar control.Dhoni may have re-ignited debates about the spirit of cricket and awin-at-all-costs mentality, but as far as the team was concerned, eightwickets for 166 runs in a full day on a batsman-friendly pitch was nothingto sneeze at.”He has that extra bit of luck you need,” said Ganguly later, and hewasn’t being uncharitable. There were moments in the match when Dhoni’sleadership appeared bereft of direction, but then something would happenthat made you forget what had preceded it. So it was on Monday afternoonwith Matthew Hayden flailing away at the bowling with the air of a man whorefused to countenance defeat. Runs were being leaked at an alarming rateand there were no close catchers for either Hayden or Michael Hussey asDhoni concentrated on cutting off the fours.Then, he threw the ball to Mishra. The game changed. His fourth ball fromround the wicket was a perfectly pitched topspinner that reared up likemany a Kumble special had over the previous two decades. All Hussey coulddo was lob to slip, and the mini-crisis was over. Hayden then tried toimprovise once too often against Harbhajan and after that, the outcome ofthe match was in no doubt.The early belligerence from Australia, and Hayden in particular, hadpushed Dhoni on to the defensive quickly. Ishant Sharma, the standoutbowler of the series, bowled to an 8-1 field against Simon Katich, and hadseven on the off side for Hayden. But with plenty of runs beingsurrendered behind the wicket, Zaheer’s opening spell of six overs cost 44runs.Again, Dhoni came up with the right change. Stroke of genius or plainluck, Harbhajan’s arrival at the bowling crease changed things. Dhoni putdown a chance off the second ball he bowled, but there was an element ofrecklessness in Hayden’s approach that made India believe that playing thepatience game would bring about a breakthrough.India managed just 21.3 overs in that first session, and the shadow castby dismal over-rates that caused Ponting to take his eye off the ball onthe fourth evening appeared to affect Dhoni too. With Virender Sehwag andHarbhajan bowling offspin in tandem, Hayden was only too happy to tee off,especially with the variety of sweeps that caused such devastation back in2001.Dhoni though never loses his cool. The field went out, the game seemed todrift and then Mishra came on. It was almost as though Australia had beenlulled into a false sense of security and then struck with an upper-cut.Within minutes, the fielders were swarming around the bat and themen-on-the-rope tactics quickly forgotten. Mishra was far too much for thetail to handle, and there was just enough uneven bounce to make Harbhajandastardly difficult to play.A less secure man would have wanted to hog the limelight, but by ceding space to one of Indian cricket’s all-time greats for a couple of overs, Dhoni showed just how aware he was of the bigger picture “There will be greater tests for MS, especially when he takes the teamabroad,” said Ganguly afterwards. It was a quiet reminder to everyone ofjust how hapless India once were when they left home comforts behind. Butthough Dhoni may not quite have been Safe Hands behind the stumps in thisgame, there’s enough intuition and spark in his leadership to suggest thatIndian cricket’s future could be very bright indeed.At the start of the millennium, Ganguly started the journey to “raiseIndian cricket’s profile overseas”. For 10 minutes this afternoon justbefore a famous triumph was clinched, the past and future wereintertwined. In so many ways, Dhoni is the best man to carry forward theGanguly flame. These could well be the best of times.