The Hindu : Sport : Kumble, Kaneria hold the key

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Sunday, Nov 25, 2007
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Kumble, Kaneria hold the key

Rakesh Rao

— Photo: S. Subramanium

MAKING HIS PRESENCE FELT: Danish Kaneria came up with a four-wicket haul to restrict India from posting a huge score.

NEW DELHI: The game’s most experienced and illustrious middle-order batsmen are on view. But the first Test is slowly turning out to be a tale of two leg-spinners.

As the series opener moves into a decisive phase, Anil Kumble and Danish Kaneria seem to be holding the key to their team’s fortunes.

In fact, the two performers have already done enough to bolster the chances of their countries so far in the contest.

Playing his first Test as captain, Kumble scalped four victims – all bowled – in the first innings on a surface notorious for slow and low bounce.

Kaneria too made his presence felt with a four-wicket haul. He prevented the V. V. S. Laxman-Mahendra Singh Dhoni stand from assuming match-winning proportions by getting rid of the wicketkeeper and struck again when he snared Kumble.

After the Pakistan openers got off to a comfortable start, it was Kumble who brought India back in the match. He went on to add the scalp of a well-set Salman Butt to completely account for Pakistan’s top-order.

“Anil likes to bowl on a helpful pitch because he doesn’t turn the ball much. His forte is line and length and if there is some bounce, Anil can become unplayable. I don’t have to speak about his intelligence as a bowler,” said Narendra Hirwani, the leg-spinner who took 16 Test wickets on his debut.

With Kumble doing his bit to keep the target within India’s comfort zone, the focus will most certainly shift on Kaneria once India begins its chase.

On a hat-trick

Kaneria will be on a hat-trick when he starts his spell in the second innings. Interestingly, on Saturday, the 26-year-old from Karachi got the wicket of Kumble to exact a revenge of sorts. Remember, Kumble had bowled Kaneria to end Pakistan’s innings a day earlier.

The two bowlers present a classic contrast. “Kaneria looks a monotonous bowler to me. Doesn’t really appeal,” remarked Hirwani.

Kaneria is orthodox in the mould of predecessors like Abdul Qadir and Mushtaq Ahmed. Cousin of former Pakistan wicketkeeper Anil Dalpat, Kaneria is only the second Hindu to play Test cricket for the country.

When Pakistan travelled here in 2005, Kaneria took 19 wickets and played a key role to help the team draw the series 1-1.

Kumble’s unorthodox way of bowling leg-spinners has remained his asset. For one who started as a medium pacer, Kumble has often got wickets more due to his ability to extract bounce rather than turn.

His top-spinners have foxed more batsmen than his googlies. “Anil has developed a lovely slow ball; it is very deceptive and very much against his style of bowling.

“He likes to let it go really. Much would depend on how effectively he uses this delivery,” said former Test off-spinner Rajesh Chauhan.

In this match, so far, Kumble’s performance should be considered credible.

Kumble and Kaneria must have won the hearts of the connoisseurs. Since the pitch is yet to “break” thanks to the lack of bright sunshine over the past week, it will be interesting to see how skilfully Kaneria extracts the most from the surface.

The onus, once Kumble is through, would be on Kaneria.

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