Of being 'match-fit' but 'medically unfit'

Faisal Shariff in Madras

Nayan Mongia and controversy seem to be synonymous with other. No sooner does the wicketkeeper wriggle out of one than he finds himself engulfed in another.

Following the injury he sustained while keeping wickets in the second Test, which resulted in a fractured nose, Mongia's inclusion in the team for the third Test was in doubt. But came Sunday morning, the preliminary team list had his name in the final eleven. However, the selectors, half an hour before the toss, asked for a change. They wanted Bombay stumper Samir Dighe to play instead.

Skipper Sourav Ganguly was, however, unwilling to budge and demanded that Mongia be retained. Heated exchanges between the selectors and skipper ensued in the middle of the Chidambaram stadium, indicating that both parties failed to see eye to eye on Mongia's inclusion. In the end, the skipper had to eat humble pie, and Mongia was shown the door after being summoned to Madras for the Test.

"There is a difference in being medically fit and being match fit," argued one of the selectors, making a complete turnaround.

"Mongia, for his part, says that he is match-fit and can play, but I know the Madras heat. What if he gets dehydrated? What if he says on day one that he is feeling giddy and will be unable to play anymore? It was a tough call to make, and we did the right thing by picking Dighe," he concluded.

The episode, however, delayed the toss yet again, with match referee Cammie Smith and Aussie skipper Steve Waugh failing to find any humour in the entire affair.

There was more grief to follow as Ganguly failed to call correctly and India languished in the field all day, with the Aussies scoring at breakneck speed.

"Mongia was in the team last night when we had a meeting," said team physio Andrew Leipus.

"I passed his fitness test and thought he was ready to play. But the selectors in hindsight thought it would be too huge a risk to take him for a key game like this one. Nayan is medically fit but the selectors exercised caution and thought otherwise. There is a difference in being medically fit and taking an unnecessary risk," he added, putting to rest all rumours of the Bombay camp at work to push their ward through.

Leipus added: "If Mongia had played and missed the chances which Samir Dighe dropped, then the entire blame would be shifted to his injured nose. Anyone can drop a catch like Samir did; but still, had Mongia dropped those, he would have been castigated.

“There is no bad blood or a boycott Mongia campaign within the team. This is just gossip finding its way into news reports. I heard the same thing in Australia when Mongia was summoned. To the best of my knowledge none of the players gave Mongia the cold shoulder."

As for Mongia, the poor chap flew out of Madras and headed home to Baroda to rest his nose.

Helmet blues

Mongia's yellow helmet has raised quite a few eyebrows amongst the selectors and media.

"How can he wear the yellow helmet? It is shameful that he takes no pride in wearing the Indian logo. We have told him not once but thrice; but he does not budge. I can ask Sachin to wear the MRF logo on his helmet, if that is the case," argued one of the selectors., adding, "Anyone else would have been blasted away, but no one says anything to Mongia."

Mongia, for his part, argues that he wears the helmet simply because it fits him well.

"I got the helmet when I was playing an exhibition game and it fit me well; so what is wrong in wearing it for the Test matches? The only thing is that I have to colour the yellow to an Indian blue. I will do it when I have the time," says the Baroda stumper.

Hayden sweeps, and sweeps fine

Matthew Hayden, the only Aussie who got runs under his belt in each Test outing in India, was yet again amongst the runs at Madras with an unbeaten ton. The hulking Queenslander's hunger for runs is no secret, say his teammates.

"He is just translating that hunger from the domestic to the Test arena," mentioned a member of the Aussie support staff.

When asked about the sweep -- his bread and butter shot which has got him the bulk of his runs -- Hayden commented that it was Bobby Simpson who had mentioned to him the importance of the sweep shot to succeed in India.

"Way back in 1993, Simpson taught me to cut the spinners out by sweeping them. He said he [Simpson] had implemented the same shot against he likes of the great Indian spin quartet [Bedi, Chandrashekar, Venkataraghavan and Prasanna] during his playing days. It's been a pretty productive shot for me as I am an attacking player of spin bowling," he said.

Refusing to reveal the team strategy against the spinners, he commented that his own personal strategy was to back himself and attack Harbhajan Singh.

"Harbhajan bowled particularly well, but I was in a positive frame of mind too. Our individual contrasting styles against spin bowling has proved to be the reason for our success," he added.

It is worth mentioning here that Hayden had been unwell for the past couple of days, plagued by a nagging throat infection and viral fever. The fact that he batted out there under the scorching sun for six hours is worth applauding.

As Arun Lal, former India opener and commentator stated: "These guys play better when they are unwell or in pain. They manage to concentrate more and fight it out with renewed vigour."

The second innings match-winner

Nilesh Kulkarni, the lanky Mumbai left armer -- the fifth left arm tweaker in as many Tests for India, has a very strange tag attached to him.

"Kulkarni is a match-winner; watch the second innings," predicted Karsan Ghavri, former Test bowler and former selector of the Bombay Ranji team.

The story goes that Kulkarni has great spells in the second innings. The Bombay cricketers claim that he is a very effective bowler and always does well in the second innings.

Hearing this, Arun Lal, joked: "Why play him in the first innings at all, then? Play him in the second innings, if and when it comes to that."

Some former India Test players feel picking Kulkarni wasn't exactly a good idea. Said one of them: "True, he had taken five wickets against them [the Aussies] this time and on the previous tour when Bombay played Australia, but the fact is Nilesh was just not turning the ball even half an inch to worry the batsman on the opening day of this third Test.

"All the balls seem to be going straight on. What's the point of waiting for the second innings when all the damage is already done in the first innings?"

Nadeem Memon, the curator of the Wankhede pitch, mentioned that in an Irani trophy match last year, between Rest of India and Ranji champions Bombay, Kulkarni failed to extract any purchase from the wicket though Railways' Murali Kartik, hailed by Bishen Singh Bedi and Maninder Singh as the finest left arm spinner in the country, claimed 10 wickets in the match to record his career-best figures.

Maybe, well have to wait till the second innings to see if the assessment is correct. As Madras boy Hemang Badani, the 12th man for the Test, pointed out: "The match is far from over. The Chepauk wicket is famous for taking vicious turn from day three, just watch. If we bat well then there is a lot to play and watch out for in this outing."

Aussies taking no chances

Another round of applause for the Aussies despite all the bad blood caused after the Calcutta Test. The Aussies have been watching and monitoring their physical condition so as to brave the harsh Madras weather. Urine samples were found outside the Aussie dressing rooms, raising questions of possible drug tests.

But team physio Eroll Alcott cleared the air, stating that the samples were taken to check for the hydration levels of the various players. Fears of dehydration, like what happened to Dean Jones in the famous Madras tied Test, is the reason for the caution, he said. The physio takes one look at the colours of the samples and decides what further course of action needs to be taken to keep the levels in check.

That's not all. The players are weighed naked each day to check on weight loss. So much so that an Aussie lady dietitian was engaged to decide the meals for the players. The lady had menus of the best restaurants of cities where the Aussies would be traveling faxed to her. She then consulted an Indian restaurateur in Queensland and decided on what could be consumed, completely eliminating chances of food poisoning. So, seafood has been struck off the menus almost completely.

More on the third Test

Hayden grinds India on day one
Aussie aggression pays off
Adam Gilchrist in Real Audio -- Day 1

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