Harbhajan Singh grinned at his good fortune. He had just escaped what the commentators call a ‘tracer bullet’, even though the batsman’s feet position and blade angle had given no indication that the ball was coming straight towards the off-spinner in his follow through. No wonder Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s helicopter shot is still looking for a mention in the coaching manuals.

Batting alongside the skipper on Sunday morning was Yusuf Pathan, who has a surprisingly top-handed grip for a batsman of his reputation. Bowling to them were Praveen Kumar, with his stuttering run-up, and Ashish Nehra, ambling up to the crease with his trademark blend of laziness and urgency.

Together these four players may not be the best exhibits of the game of cricket but their effectiveness for India has been proven pretty often in the past. Dhoni is the world’s No 1 batsman in ODIs, Nehra is having a fruitful comeback year, Praveen is the one of India’s best partnership breakers, and Yusuf is a feared striker of the cricket ball.

Good mix

As India fight to become the world’s top team, Dhoni’s boys seem to have a good mix of grace and power, of the unorthodox and the copybook. At first sight, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik and even Yuvraj Singh, belong to batting’s evergreen old school; and in the bowling department RP Singh’s run-up is spot-on while Amit Mishra’s leg-break is a coach’s delight.

How these two schools of cricket do in the months to follow will reflect how much the sport is changing, and how much it’s remaining the same, in these turbulent times. Virender Sehwag has an interesting opinion on this purists versus mavericks debate. Technique, to him, is what helps a player in making runs — there is nothing right and wrong.

... contd.