Kaarthick played a mature innings, a good sign for someone who has married so young! Till he opened the innings in the Test at Capetown he had struck me as someone who was talented but to whom patience hadn’t yet paid too many visits. He was twitchy, a jack-in-the-box and you just got the impression that like another of his kind from Chennai, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, he was in search of the exotic. But that morning in Capetown he showed us another dimension to his cricket and that has happily remained.

Attitude always shines through and I remember being first impressed by Kaarthick when he came on as a substitute fielder and ran his life out in the outfield. It suggested that he wanted to be in the game and to that extent he and Dhoni have much in common. It is just as well that at the moment both earn a place in the side for their batting because India could do with both.

However, there was much to be concerned about. India looked heavy, leaden footed and antique in the field. Maybe it was the heat because, like good hosts, Bangladesh returned the compliment with some in the deep looking they were on the last leg of a 10,000-metre race. Powar, Munaf and Zaheer are three slow legs too many and Sehwag resembles them with each passing day. You can’t play with only two fleet-footed fielders, especially if one of them is the reserve wicket keeper! Robin Singh has much to do. At the moment, the idea of the fielder being the sixth bowler seems distant.

... contd.