Shikhar Dhawan played like Don: Cowan

“Why has Suresh Raina been picked ahead of Virender Sehwag?” This was the query of everyone’s lips at the Kotla. With India not practising on Wednesday, the focus shifted to the visitors’ big guns: Michael Clarke and Shane Watson.

Clarke was seen interacting with his players and team officials, while Watson went through a whole haul of batting practice for around 40 minutes. The media, waiting for Clarke and Watson to look each other in the eye, were disappointed.

Watson batted for nearly 40 minutes in the nets. Expected to lead Australia since Clarke has been down with a back injury, he faced the quicks and spinners at different nets. By the way, Watson has got a thumbs-up from Cowan who lauded his leadership skills.

Meanwhile, Aussie spinners Glenn Maxwell and Xavier Doherty seemed focused on hitting the right length, something they have struggled to do during this series.

Having served his ‘homework’ ban, James Pattinson is set to return, which means Australia will have more meat in their attack this time.

Mitchell Starc will be sorely missed, however. “Any time a guy goes home, it is sad and we have seen how much potential he has. That over with the second new ball (in Mohali) swing the momentum of the Test. Even the last spell against MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar with reverse swing was just pure skill. He is such a threat with the old ball, particularly in these conditions,” observed Cowan.

However, he reserved his biggest compliment for Shikhar Dhawan. “Dhawan play-ed like Sir Don Bradman. This was his first Test innings and he played every ball on merit and had little room for error. Every batsman has his days and it was his day out there.

@shekharluthra