As the players walked out after Day One of the West vs East Duleep Trophy match,the only thing that suggested it was dusk was the hour-hand on the watch. With a cloudy sky all day,the suns disappearance hadnt changed the light much. Add to that a damp CCI pitch and frequent gusts of stiff wind,and Wasim Jaffer might have had to deal with a minor rebellion from his pacemen had he not opted to field first after winning the toss. With East Zone dismissed for 171,and West 102 for two at stumps,Jaffer would have been happy with the match situation despite his duck. As expected,the home team were in control while the visitors had their backs to the wall. But there was a minor glitch on this predictable day. The conditions suggested that the man of the moment would be one of the menacingly tall pacemen in the West Zone side,but the hero of the day was the five-foot-nothing,soft-spoken left-arm spinner Rajesh Pawar,alias Babu. Pawars 6/34 effort was a classic display of the dying art of left-arm spin bowling,with the right-handed batsmen forced to flirt with the slip cordon. I always love having batsmen caught in the slips. It means that my loop was perfect and the ball dipped before the batsman expected, says Pawar. Of the six wickets he took,three went to the slips where Jaffer and Ajinkay Rahane did the needful. The Mumbai boy,who plays Ranji Trophy for Baroda,said he hadnt really expected to get purchase from the wicket. There was grass yesterday so I thought it would be tough. But the dampness helped me, he said. The spell becomes more significant since Pawar bowled with a Kookaburra ball,the less seamy brand that doesnt quite excite Indias slow bowlers. The last time I bowled with a Kookaburra in a match was two years back. I have been bowling at the nets for the last couple of days with this brand so I got used to it, he said.
