Zaheer Khan banged one short, just outside the off stump, and Andrew Strauss's mistimed pull ensured Ishant Sharma had no difficulty taking a regulation catch at fine leg.
England's captain had negotiated 80-plus deliveries, only to give away his wicket in this fashion.
Blame it on a momentary lapse in concentration on part of the batsman. Or credit the bowler for winning another round and regaining his psychological edge over the batsman. Zaheer had set it up again. And succeeded one more time.
Zaheer's dismissal of Strauss on the opening day at Lord's was a rehash of what had happened at the same venue in the first Test in 2007. Only the fielder was different; in that case it was Sachin Tendulkar.
The 2007 episode was the first instance of Zaheer accounting for Strauss. Thursday was the sixth time, in the last 10 innings.
And in the four intervening years, Zaheer has had the measure of the England captain. So much so that, in a bid to negotiate him, Strauss didn't mind playing a first class game for Somerset (vs India).
"The fact that Andrew Strauss is here playing in this practice game says it all. There is definitely that element of doubt in his mind and he has given me that edge now going into the series," said Zaheer ahead of that game in Taunton.
On Thursday, Strauss proved his nemesis was right.
Even as the England captain tries to solve the Zaheer puzzle in the rest of the series, we present a few other batsmen who have struggled against 32-year-old left-arm seamer.
Zaheer has had a more bunnies in Test match cricket and he's loving it!
No comments:
Post a Comment