The English media believe that their great white hope, Graeme Hick's international career is virtually finished after he was outfoxed by Mohanty.

England were confident of overhauling India's modest total in their final league match until they saw this lanky unsung medium pacer moving the ball around like a boomerang at Edgbaston. It was a master stroke by skipper Mohammed Azharuddin to introduce the Orissa fast bowler ahead of the tested Venkatesh Prasad and it paid off handsomely.

Given the new ball, Mohanty dismissed skipper Alec Stewart with a peach of an outswinger and then grabbed the headlines with another dream delivery two balls later. Graeme Hick pushed out tentatively to adelivery that swung out. Suddenly, on pitching, it seamed back at him and shattered the stumps. The roar of approval from the packed stadium must surely have been heard even back home in India.

``I always thought I would be a useful bowler in English conditions. I was disappointed when I was left out of the preliminary 19. You have all seen my bowling in Toronto, '' he said.

Indeed the teams have been seeing his bowling here and simply cannot fathom it. Perhaps the international cricket coaches conference which concluded in Birmingham on Wednesday ought to have had a paper on his style.

Mohanty is being described as an open chested bowler with a windmill action. But what thoroughly confuses the batsmen is his ability to bowl outswingers with an open-chested in-swing action. ``The white ball swings so much, that the trouble is only in controlling it. Every bowler has had this problem,'' he observed. ``We have been asked by the captain to cut down on the wides and no balls.''

Mohanty's ability to seizethe opportunities has been commendable. To start with he was only the fourth medium pacer, after Srinath, Prasad and Agarkar. But with the last named failing to live up to expectations, Mohanty got his chance. Prasad sat out the match against Kenya, thereby giving Mohanty his first chance. He has not looked back since.

This former Dennis Lillee trainee shows far more aggression than the rest of the Indian bowlers. His fist clenching, arm pumping, aggressive appealing have lifted the competitive edge of the team. He may not be as quick as Srinath or even Agarkar. But what he has going for him is a great temperament.

Former Indian star Ravi Shastri believes that he would be invaluable on this tour. ``His bowling is ideal. He will cause a lot of damage, especially to teams that take him lightly,'' he said. The Super Six stage now is the real test for this medium pacer. Over to you Mohanty.