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Home > Cricket > NZ Tour > Report

One for all

Prem Panicker | December 22, 2002 05:29 IST

This morning, Ashish Nehra appears to have drunk deep of some magic potion -- as I write this, he is into his 10th straight over and as an example of sustained effort over the sort of prolonged spell fast bowlers rarely bowl, this one is a standout.

For me, the moment of the game was when he first came on to bowl. There is so much talk of Indians 'hanging their bat out' in the corridor. So much talk of one-day cricket having taught Test players bad habits. Nehra, in the space of two deliveries to Mark Richardson -- such a quintessential Test opener that he does not even figure in the Kiwi one-day plans -- rubbished all that stuff.

One ball landed about half a foot outside off, then seamed away -- and Richardson's bat was hanging on the same clothesline Indian batsmen are regularly accused of using. The next was six inches further in -- the bat was hung out again, and the edge of a regular Test opener was there for the taking.

But what followed next was for me the real magic moment -- while the rest of the players came running up to celebrate, Nehra was off, racing all the way to fine leg to get into a celebratory huddle with Tinu Yohannan, his bowling partner. It was a tribute to the way Tinu had bowled at the other end, keeping the pressure on, that Nehra's first thought was to acknowledge it.

It's been happening throughout this Test. Time and again, you see the seamers geeing each other up, supporting each other. Yohannan got the wicket, Zaheer was the first to celebrate. Nehra is gasping after an effort ball in the 10th over of his spell, Zaheer is the first to race up to him, from mid on, walk shoulder to shoulder with him back to the run-up, encouraging, exhorting.

The three have a seam bowlers' club going, out there.

It is a spirit we have rarely seen in the previous decade, a spirit of camaraderie that has cut across parochial considerations. It's a moment to treasure, a spirit to celebrate.

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