Opener Phil Hughes went after a fullish delivery, angled across him by Ishant Sharma, and the ball streaked through the third slip region at a comfortable catching height.
For some reason, in both innings of their second warm-up game against the Chairman’s XI, India only had two slips in place for the snick-happy Hughes. All afternoon a group of kids let out mock appeals. In between, one of them remarked that the Indian bowling wasn’t much good if they couldn’t dismiss Hughes. “You know who sponsors Phil Hughes now?” he asked a friend, and provided the reply himself. “Snickers.”
Ishant hadn’t even been part of India’s original 13 for the match. The first session had seen two declarations - one overnight, with the Chairman’s XI seven down and 54 behind India’s first innings total, and the other after India made 90 for two in 30 second innings overs.
Set 145 to win, the home team were 100 for no loss in 30 overs when the handshakes and back-slaps commenced. It turned out that the two teams had agreed to bat for 30 overs each on the final day.
India lost Virender Sehwag, caught in the slips off a Peter George delivery that left him a touch, and Ajinkya Rahane, caught behind off left-arm seamer Josh Lalor, within their first ten overs.
Following that, the spinners came on, allowing Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma to milk them around the field in an unbroken stand of 76 before the time for a declaration arrived. When India took the field, to bowl to two men who had just been left out of the Australian Test squad, there were enough signs to suggest they had settled on their pace attack for Boxing Day.
Source:indianexpress
