India goes into the final and deciding Test in Mumbai’s Wankhede of what has been a highly intriguing Sachin farewell Test series with just one change: the woefully in-form Mohammed Shami has been dropped to make way for Ishant Sharma as the Indian team looks to weaken its bowling resources to give itself a fighting chance to stretch Sachin’s farewell Test into the fifth day and give the batting legend two opportunities to bat.
Mohammed Shami with figures of 9-118, the most by an Indian fast bowler on debut even after counting Kumble as one, was instrumental in bundling out the West Indies in under three days, thus robbing cricket fans of a chance to see Sachin bat again. On the third day of play, the West Indies were comfortably placed, at 113 for 2 at Tea, to chase down the Indian total and put India in so that Sachin could bat again, which was the whole bloody point of organizing this series anyway. There was a festive atmosphere in the stands as chants of ‘Sachin, Sachin’ rent through the air but euphoria gave way to disbelief and then gloom as Shami began to rip through the West Indian lower order by getting the ball to reverse swing. Ishant’s immaculate lack of control over line and length were sorely missed with wickets continuing to tumble at regular intervals and Dhoni running out of options to avert the Calypso collapse. Soon the crowd began to chant ‘we want Ishant’ to give vent to their frustration.
Dhoni said that Ishant would now be a vital cog in the team’s plans for the final Test. “I plan to use Ishant in short, strategic spells to meet critical objectives. The key, of course, is to not overuse him because that might backfire on us,” MSD said after the match. The skipper also requested fans to go easy on Shami for his pathetically impressive performance. “He’s just starting out and sometimes you have very good days at the office. It’s part of the game. Shami will learn how to adjust to the situation as he evolves at this level,” he shrugged. Yesteryear bowling great and slow bowling guru, Venkatesh Prasad, has been asked to work with the Bengal pacer to unlearn some aspects of fast bowling to mature as a bowler.