da betcris： Dinesh Karthik played his part behind the stumps, and will certainly havea bigger role to play once Anil Kumble settles in on a pitch that alreadyhas significant rough patches
Dileep Premachandran in Cape town03-Jan-2007
‘For a man playing his first Test in over 15 months, Dinesh Karthik certainly camethrough the ordeal with reputation enhanced’ © Getty Images
After the Table-Mountain high of the opening day, it was a case of themorning after for most of the Indians. A promising position was squanderedwith the bat, and an erratic bowling performance then allowed Graeme Smithand Hashim Amla to build up some real momentum in the closing stages ofplay.Dinesh Karthik played his part behind the stumps, and will certainly havea bigger role to play once Anil Kumble settles in on a pitch that alreadyhas significant rough patches. For the moment though, he can reflect onhis opening-day display, a doughty four-hour innings that spanned 170balls and realised 63 runs. A poor decision ended it, but by then, Karthikand Wasim Jaffer had already added 153 for the first wicket, the bestopening stand by any team against South Africa in more than two years.”It was very challenging opening the innings and playing great bowlerslike Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini,” said Karthik, speaking after thesecond day’s play at Newlands. “To get off to a good start boosted myconfidence and my self-esteem.”Though the pitch bore more resemblance to the ones that he left behindback home, opening was still a stiff test of Karthik’s technique,especially when it came to choosing which balls to play. “As an opener,it’s important that you trust your technique because if you feel there’s aproblem, you might not be able to handle good balls,” he said. “You’ve gotto trust your technique if you want to bat out a session. It’s not an easything to do but hopefully, I’ll keep getting better.”
‘It was very challenging opening the innings and playing great bowlerslike Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini’ © Getty Images
When the series began, the prospect of opening in Cape Town would havebeen far from his mind, given that there were three specialist openers inthe squad. But with Virender Sehwag’s poor form forcing him down theorder, and Gautam Gambhir short of match practice, it was left to Karthikto face the new-ball flak with Jaffer. “The night before the game, RahulDravid told me to be prepared, saying: ‘You might be asked to open’. So,when he told me the next morning that I’d be opening, I was prepared.”According to Karthik, there had been no doubts in his mind when he wasasked to do the job, nor was there a feeling that he was being made asacrificial lamb. “It’s important to be a team man,” he said. “At the endof the day, you have to do what the team wants you to do. That’s how wehave been brought up; not to play selfish cricket.”For a man playing his first Test in over 15 months, he certainly camethrough the ordeal with reputation enhanced. The hard work starts now. Thefirst step can often be fuelled by adrenaline, but an encore needs farmore strength of character.