India were in the middle of a mini-collapse in the final session of the Lords Test on Monday when S Sreesanth,with a towel on his shoulder and a couple of water bottles in his hands,headed towards the training area at the Nursery End. Had Munaf Patel not been on drinks duty for the match,he too might have accompanied Sreesanth to the nets. With skipper MS Dhoni dropping enough hints that injured pace bowler Zaheer Khan might not play in the second Test at Trent Bridge starting on Friday,everyone in the squad has been in a state of readiness,with Munaf and Sreesanth put on high alert. On the scenic London-Nottingham road trip on Tuesday,the India captains constantly ticking mind would have been busy dealing with a complex question,one that has no real right answer. Sreesanth or Munaf,is a devil-and-the-deep-sea dilemma that is sure to leave one with a headache. They can exhilarate and annoy,all in a space of a couple of deliveries. Many an Indian cricket observer has attempted to understand them,but soon moved on to easier subjects after labelling the duo as enigmatic. So when it comes to choosing one of the two pacers,if not a toss-up,gut feel could be the sole basis of selection. England pacer Angus Fraser who has seen Indian cricket from close quarters,first as a player and later as a cricket writer acknowledges their talent as well as inconsistency,before pausing for a moment and taking his pick. Sreesanth swings the ball,while Munaf is an old-fashioned medium pacer. But Munaf seems a bit moody at times, Fraser says. Ill go with Munaf. He is potentially a very high quality bowler,if he gets more consistent with his bowling and his mindset. Frasers neutral opinion notwithstanding,it is going to be a tough call for the India think-tank. Writing off Sreesanth for the second Test will be tough as he has been pitching the ball up and perfectly on the seam at the nets. In that case,cant India go with four pacers at Trent Bridge and include both Sreesanth and Munaf in the playing XI? In other words,cant they drop Harbhajan Singh? It wont be an outrageous decision,not the least because the off-spinner had just one wicket to show from 56 overs,and couldnt quite weave a web of intrigue around the England batsmen. If India are ever to go with a four-pronged pace attack on this tour,it has to be at Trent Bridge. The list of leading wicket-takers at this venue is overwhelmingly dominated by fast bowlers of the top-20 wicket-takers,17 have been pacers and three leg-spinners. Over here,finger spinners find it tough to make an impression. In the first Test of the England-Pakistan series in 2010 the last longer-version international game played here the pacers played havoc. Of the 37 wickets that fell,33 went to the pacers and there were two run-outs. England offie Graeme Swann had perhaps the easiest game of his career,as he bowled just 2 overs. Carrying drinks isnt something Harbhajan has done often. Despite being under tremendous pressure,he has retained his place in the side. Dhoni rarely takes the field without the experienced spinner by his side. Even after his modest outing at Lords,the Indian skipper saw positives in his bowling performance. We saw a lot of improvement in his bowling. He bowled a lot slower in this game. It was slightly tough for him,especially in the first innings when (Kevin) Pietersen got set and started going after him. It was difficult as there was no real turn, he said. Dhoni didnt stop there,he added that he was also impressed by the bounce that Harbhajan got and he hoped that at a spin-friendly venue,his frontline slow bowler will be more effective. Trent Bridge,of all,isnt that venue. If Dhoni sticks with Harbhajan and thats what it seems at the moment he will be dealing with the Sreesanth vs Munaf quandary. But if,for once,he sees the bowlers without their pacer and spinner tags and picks the best four available,he can avoid the debate and play both Munaf and Sreesanth along with,of course,Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar.
