With Munaf regaining fitness, Dhoni is faced with a problem of plenty and will have to decide whether he wants to change the winning combination for the second Test against West Indies in Barbados.
Fast bowler Munaf Patel’s return to fitness has put skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in a pleasant dilemma or two. With only one day to go for the second Test against West Indies in Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, there will be a question on the Indian captain’s mind and that is whether he should go ahead with the winning combination or disturb the bowling line-up to accommodate Patel.
India seamers Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar, with support from spinners Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra, did a commendable job to guide their team to a 63-run win over the hosts in Sabina Park, Kingston, and give India a 1-0 lead in the three-match Test series.
Uttar Pradesh bowler Kumar earned special praise from the critics for the way he bowled in the first Test. Despite this being his first Test and lack of experience at the other end, he bowled with great maturity and swung the ball both ways to trouble the talented West Indian batsmen. After triggering a collapse of the top-order in the first innings, he was banned by umpire Daryl Harper for running on the wicket. He came back in the second innings and impressed further by putting up another superb performance.
Sharma, who has struggled with accuracy and pace in the recent time, returned to form on a seamer-friendly Jamaica wicket to threaten the opponents with his pace.
While Harbhajan and Mishra have been partners in crime with the old ball, the duo has been enjoying bowling on the turning tracks of the Caribbean. And Dhoni would not like to take the risk of breaking the spin combination as India, finally, has got a settled spin pair.
Considering the conditions and the humid weather, it might be a blessing in disguise for Dhoni to have a third seamer in Munaf, who can deliver if the other fails.
Going by the statistics, the Bridgetown wicket has been kind to fast bowlers. The top-five wicket takers here have all been seamers, from the dangerous Courtney Walsh to the deadly pace of Andy Roberts.
Former India stumper Nayan Mongia, who kept the wickets when West Indies defeated India by 38 runs in the 1996 tour, said Dhoni shouldn’t disturb the winning combination. “No doubt that Munaf has bowled well in the past few months. However, he is coming out of injury now and it won’t be right to reinstate him immediately. Ishant and Praveen have done extremely well. It won’t be appropriate to disturb the winning combination. Ishant has got the pace while Praveen can swing the ball well.”
“Now, the wickets in the Caribbean Islands are not bowler-friendly and behave the way it does in India. Apart from Jamaica, none support seamers. If the Bridgetown wicket will help the pacers, then I think Dhoni should go with three seamers and a spinner. However, I don’t think you need to change the line-up right now,” he added.
Munaf, who did not play the fifth ODI against West Indies, also missed the first Test due to fitness issues. However, the team management did not reveal any reason behind Munaf’s exclusion from the playing XI for the last game.
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