Areas Openers must take care of, and Vengsarkar is India's Don

MEDIA WATCH, December 7

A very interesting article by Rohit Mahajan in The Hindustan Times quoting Javagal Srinath about the technique of four potential openers for the Australian tour.

Right now, we will talk about the chinks in their armour, which Srinath talked about in the piece.

Wasim Jaffer: Plays too many strokes when in groove. Should pace his innings better

Gautam Gambhir: Compulsive puller. He needs to handle the short stuff well in Australia because that is one area he will be targeted in.

Dinesh Kaarthik: Balls outside the off stump are a problem right now. He lives on scoring runs and gets under pressure whenever it is curbed. Australia need patience.

Aakash Chopra: Compact but Over defensive. If gets opportunity for Australia, he has to take care of this aspect of his batting.

Interesting analysis and who can give it better than an opening bowler, who has a first hand experience of dealing with the openers, and the Australian conditions. But about Chopra, one must say that he was overdefensive because that was said to be his brief with Sehwag always on rampage at the other end.

In the Times of India, Pradeep Vijayakar makes interesting comparison of Don Bradman with Dilip Vengsarkar. But it is not about their qualities as players, but as writers. Both were in trouble about their contract for writing columns.

But while Don, as player, had his contract for writing amicably terminated, Vengsarkar, as chief selector, is still writing and selecting. How the problem is solved will be seen in the coming days. Don opted to write because he was not sure if he would be selected in the touring party, while Vengsarkar should be in a position to terminate his contract anytime if Board does not want a columnist as selector.

Meanwhile, Writing his column in The Hindu, Anil Kumble expressed his concern about injuries to the pace department. ‘’Yet I am hopeful that the players who have some minor injuries will be better in quick time,’’ he writes.

But like a gritty customer that he is, Kumble did say that the important thing is to get the best out of whatever you have.

Well, that is the mindset that the Indian captain is famous for. A mind which does not allow too many doubts to creep in whatever be the quality of arsenal at his disposal.