Pathan puts his hand up as pieces fall in place

Plenty of work ahead of Rohit Sharma, Jadeja

Much as Yusuf Pathan’s frailty against the short ball is well chronicled, Tuesday’s assault on the Kiwi bowlers can’t be wished away as another knock by a flat-track bully. The obvious chink in his armoury may not have been exploited by an erratic New Zealand pace attack, but the right-hander will be tested against quality bowling units like Australia, South Africa or Sri Lanka even on batting beauties in the sub-continent. For the time being, though, he is the flavour of Indian cricket and hence must be celebrated.

For the first time in a long time, the Baroda bomber got a chance to bat for any length of time, and the 28-year-old made full use of the opportunity presented to him. With his match-winning maiden century, Pathan has not only made his case stronger when the five wise men sit down to pick the 30 probables in just over a week’s time for the mega event but also when the squad will be pruned to final 15 in the later stages.

Another modest outing from Rohit Sharma in Bangalore, as against Virat Kohli’s prolific run, has ensured that Mumbaikar’s Cup dreams are almost over while Pathan’s belligerence with bat and usefulness with ball have more or less cancelled out Ravindra Jadeja in the race for the ‘all-rounder’ slot in the team.

In the absence of regular players, stand-in skipper Gautam Gambhir could afford to fulfill his desire of pushing Pathan up the order, but once the likes of Sachin Ttendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni return to the side to go with Gambhir and Yuvraj, it’s highly unlikely that Pathan will get another break to wield his willow at a position above seven. It’s a different matter if the team management wants to use him as a floater in the order depending upon the situation, and there lies his biggest challenge.

Saurabh Tiwary got to play a second international on Tuesday and the Jharkhand batsman gave a good account of himself with a breezy but responsible unbeaten 35, thereby making his case for a lower-order batsman who can be used someone as a finisher. The selectors may still look at Rohit for this place, but the sands of time are fast running out. R Ashwin went for a few the other night when New Zealand put up their most impressive batting show yet, but considering that the off-spinner bowled seven overs in the Power Plays, is says a lot about his character.     

Pathan’s reassertion as a destructive batsman on sub-continental pitches will necessitate the think-tank to follow seven-batsman formula. It will be sad if Kohli, after having done so much, were to miss out on a berth in the final 11 but with Pathan slotting himself as a batsman who can send down four-five overs, the selectors and the captain will have to bite the bullet and take the tough call at least for a few matches.