Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni looked in devastating touch at Fatullah on Tuesday as he smashed Amit Mishra for half a dozen sixes and four boundaries during a practice session.
There was a sense of deja vu in the relentless manner in which Dhoni set about shattering Mishra’s confidence, much like a Sourav Ganguly in his prime was known to do with left-arm spinner Murali Karthik, which many believe was a chief reason why Karthik’s test career ended with just eight test matches between 2000-04 under Ganguly’s captaincy.
In 10 deliveries during a particular phase, Dhoni clobbered the Haryana leggie for six maximums and four massive boundaries in a persistent decimation of Mishra’s confidence, a possible reason why the Indian skipper isn’t too keen on fielding Amit Mishra in his playing XI. The attack drew consistent references to Sourav Ganguly’s brutal assault on left arm spinners, chiefly Murali Karthik. The ‘Prince of Calcutta’ was known to be severe on Karthik during the nets and ability to attack left arm spinners by dancing down the track meant that Karthik didn’t find much favor under Sourav’s leadership, with Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh preferred as the spin combination.
While some were clean lofted blows in the region between deep extra-cover and long off, Dhoni’s straight hits against a clueless Mishra were a treat to watch. Mishra ran out of ideas amidst a barrage of explosive strokes, a pressing reminder that even though the Indian skipper didn’t bat in the previous net session and in the warm up game against the Lankans, MS Dhoni was very much in touch ahead of India’s 2nd warn up encounter against England.
India have reverted back to their grey coloured jersey and black lower, their original practice kit, a change from their from the yellow jerseys which apparently has been discarded for the time being. Only Varun Aaron and Ravichandran Ashwin were given a day off on Tuesday.
