And we thought Jason Krejza had somehow got into the wrong sport!
Didn't they blast him in the match between the Australians and the Indian BoardPresident's XI? Didn't that pasting send shivers down the spines of theAustralians, resulting in summons to Cameron White, who's more a batsman who canbowl a bit? Didn't everyone tell us that the Australian spinners were completelyharmless – simple, pure and above any artfulness or chicanery when they bowledon the field?
Clearly, we were misled. Krejza can actually bowl. On his Test debut, theoff-spinner got three wickets and practically dismissed Sachin Tendulkar twotimes -- only his fielders refused to place themselves under the descending balland take the catches. He got a hiding to begin with, but he beat Virender Sehwagand VVS Laxman with sharp turn as they attempted to cut him; the strokes provedinjudicious, but only because Krejza turned the ball so much. He got a bonuswhen Rahul Dravid, wandering in briefly like a lost child, gifted away hiswicket in another alarming, extremely uncharacteristic manner.
Going into the final Test, Ricky Ponting had declared that he needed bowlers whocould dismiss India twice in the match, else the Border-Gavaskar Trophy they'veheld for four years would be gone. He had said Krejza could be the man to do thejob, but it did seem unlikely -- the prevalent feeling was that if their firstchoice in the first three Tests, White, was so ordinary, how bad would Krejzabe?