MUMBAI, 12 October 2007 — Euphoria and despair alternate so swiftly for the followers of Indian cricket that people who matter, critics included, have to change their views with perplexing velocity.
“Perplexing” because that is exactly what the players’ reaction is to all that is being said and written about them. In an interview to a TV channel after India’s thrilling victory over Australia in the fourth ODI at Chandigarh, Harbhajan, who was among the pick of the bowlers, said with a wry smile, “Yesterday, you were berating us, today you are showering all praises.”
It was then the “Turbanator’s” turn to pass an apt comment. Please don’t get too ecstatic because tomorrow we may lose again. We still have three matches to go. The last word can be had only at the end of the series.”
The talking of the players is indeed getting louder. What they have been giving to the Aussies on the field, some of them are giving back to the critics as well. Is this a projection of the kind of boldness, or rather fearlessness, that Mahendra Singh Dhoni has himself inculcated and spread among his teammates since taking over as captain?
Just as well as the team had held its nerves, under high-pressure situations, during the Twenty20 final against Pakistan in South Africa, Dhoni’s boys just did not buckle under even as Australia looked well on their way to victory at Chandigarh. Dhoni had only one alternative to change the course of the match and that was to capture vital wickets. He achieved this with some imaginative captaincy and effective bowling changes.
When the target was becoming more easily reachable, most captains would have moved fielders along the boundary-line. But Dhoni decided to attack, by keeping at least five men inside the 30-yard circle. In this way, the Australians found even singles hard to come by. Attempted big hits cost them vital wickets. With his tremendous work behind the stumps, Dhoni instilled such a high level of efficiency in the field that has rarely been seen in recent times. Whatever may happen in the rest of the series, this win was one to savor for a long time, for the sheer aplomb of a captain courageous.
