Dhoni leads India's 'Mission Salvage' in SL
Posted on Aug 14, 2008 at 19:39 | Updated Aug 15, 2008 at 11:30
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Colombo: While everyone is politely stepping around the subject of injured pride, and platitudes are as plentiful as buttered naan, it is plain enough for most to understand that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is leading a major salvage operation in Sri Lanka.
Salvage in terms of reversing the result of what turned out to be a disastrous Test series for Anil Kumble's team and beating Sri Lanka at home in a limited overs series known as the Idea Cup.
Yet it is ideas where India need to come up with a solid gameplan to beat Sri Lanka at home this first decade of the millennium. While a drenched Premadasa Stadium saw the Champions Trophy final shared in 2002, results in the Asia Cup (2004) and the triangular that involved the West Indies in 2005 have not favoured the tourists across the Palk Strait.
Dhoni skipped the Test section of the tour where he was missed in the lower order after the continual failure of the "fab four" left Kumble's team bereft and embarrassed. But now he knows that this mission has an urgency about it that smacks of salvaging the remains of what is a seriously wrecked Indian image in Asia.
He has been questioned on this too, for despite beating Australia Down Under and the T20 World Cup in South Africa almost 11 months ago, the fact remains, India's record in the sub-continent is one of diminishing success.
India winning an Olympic gold medal in what is a non-spectator sport such as shooting in the five-ring circus in far off Beijing, may have eased the ache of the 2-1 Test defeat, but the reality is that despite India's financial muscle, they are not winners in a region where they should be winners.
Before the Test series, the Sri Lanka tour had largely been written off as a non-event by the Indian media sources. Other than Sachin Tendulkar needing 172 runs to surpass Brian Lara's Test record for most runs by a batsman, it had little interest.
Well, Bhai: fact is harder to swallow than fiction. Tendulkar is still looking for the elusive figure and VVS Laxman apart, the super three turned out to be as enigmatic as a myth.
Maybe that is why the Indian team management sent along pumped up 19-year-old rookie Virat Kohli to try and charm the media after a three-hour practice session at the Nondescripts Cricket Club nets.
"It is an honour to be part of this team and this tour will be a good experience for me," he offered by way of comment. "I know I will learn a lot and that is important.
"There are a lot of senior players in the squad and I will learn a lot from them and get a feel of what it is like to be part of the international scene," the right-hand New Delhi batsman added.
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Posted By Dr Nandakumar Moorkath
The main hurdle in Dhoni\''s path will be tackling Mendis and Murali.There is no point in talking to senior players
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Posted By Vidhushak !!
Game-plans, ideas, as Dhoni said videos, etc, can be of help only to some extent .. but if you\''ve an
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Posted By S Balakrishnan
Shewag and Gambhir handled Mendis with ease in the test series. These two should be able to help the younger
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