Dambulla, Aug. 8: When Harbhajan Singh was ruled unfit for the third Test against Sri Lanka, Pragyan Ojha became even more determined to put his hand up. The spinner had expressed disappointment in himself after the first Test and in the second he was up against a very flat deck. Ojha’s performance in the third Test, which India won to level the series 1-1, was testimony to how new talent is ready to perform and grab places in Team India.
Suresh Raina may have been the hero of the second and third Tests, in which he had scored a century on debut and then made the winning hit with a sixer, respectively. But he is not the one to rest on his laurels. Even as his mates were sipping the bubbly, the youngster was busy consulting the video analyst to see where he could improve his batting.
Raina, once condemned as a limited-overs specialist, may have settled the argument once and for all over which batsman is most fit for the number six Test slot.
During Anil Kumble’s regime as Test captain, the selection agenda was clear. If a batsman or bowler is replaced because of injury, the player who comes in for him has to make way for the original choice when that player is fit.
This did not happen in Dhoni’s captaincy as he retained Raina rather than bring back Yuvraj Singh for the final Test. But Dhoni did not wish to be drawn into the controversy over keeping Yuvraj out with the focus shifting now to one-day cricket. Coach Gary Kirsten was also cautious in his praise, ensuring he did not single out any person. He said he was pleased with the show of the young players in the Test series.
“It’s great that we had a couple of youngsters who came in and did the business. Raina played two great Test matches. Equally, credit to Ojha who bowled exceptionally well throughout the series, showed he has got something to offer at Test level. The efforts of Ishant Sharma and Mithun were also fantastic,” Kirsten said.
Given the nature of the pitches in the series, the hard work of the young bowlers may not have fetched a true reward. Kirsten said so, “They didn’t necessarily get all the rewards they would have liked to get, but they really put in a massive effort. Pleased to see the newcomers come and make a contribution when you are missing a couple of key players.”
Kirsten believes this was a particularly satisfying win for India as the youngsters contributed so much. Players who are out injured will now have to try twice as hard to regain their places. The Test team has remained No.1 for a while now but Kirsten says the priority is not ranking but continuing to play good cricket.
“We are not that focused on rankings. We want to play every Test as well as we can. We take pride in our performances over the last two years and want to play well against every Test nation. Our focus of attention will move to the series against Australia, once we get back home. That’s going to be a big series for us. Especially with the young players filling in well and for the senior players to keep performing it will be interesting,” he said.
Sri Lanka have always been formidable opponents at home and a drawn Test series is a good enough result. Given that a tricky target was achieved to level the series shows how the depleted side punched above their weight. The young guns have arrived and Team India is celebrating.