New age cricket: Friends set to turn foes

onder how the legendary Allan Border views the dramatically changing equations in world cricket.

For someone who believed in playing aggressive cricket in an era where even mixing with opponents was considered unholy, the current scenario involving Michael Hussey, Doug Bollinger and their Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni must be nothing less than blasphemy according to the former Aussie skipper.

Going into the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting on Friday, Hussey and Bollinger will have spent almost three weeks playing under Dhoni and just two days with their Australia mates.

The Aussie duo arrived in Chandigarh on Tuesday night — bonding all along the way back from Johannesburg — with Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay.

Interestingly, the five CSK players — happy but weary after their victorious Champions League T20 campaign — will be measuring up against each other in the Test series.

The hard-nosed Border had, during the 1989 Ashes series in England, instructed his players not to socialise with the opponents. Apparently, Border believed that being pally with the opposition would diminish the competitive edge.

No one could fault the left-handed great, once the highest run-getter in Test cricket, as Australia won the six-match series 4-0.

Well, the times have changed. And there’s no stopping Bollinger from bonding with Dhoni, or Virender Sehwag engaging in some banter with, say, a Dirk Nannes, even on the eve of a Test match. That’s how cricket will be played thanks to the increasingly powerful influence of franchise-based Twenty20 cricket.

The hosts, too, are not happy with the situation to have their captain, who is the most important member in devising the strategy, for just two training sessions before the start of an important series. But, it’s the visitors who are more affected by the late arrival of the CSK players as they have had no time to acclimatise.

From the look of things, the Australian team’s worst fears are coming true. Bollinger, their first-choice pacer, is a doubtful starter. He did not look up to it in his first training session at the PCA Stadium on Wednesday, bowling for just over 10 minutes.

“Yes, this is not ideal preparation. But this is the modern world of cricket. They play for different franchises, for different teams, and their countries. That’s what we have to deal with. We have got to make sure that they are as close to their best as possible, come Friday,” Australia coach Tim Nielsen told reporters.

The Aussie contingent is keeping its fingers crossed and hopes Bollinger passes the fitness test on Thursday. “It’s not as if he (Bollinger) was sitting on a beach on his bum, he has been playing cricket. He certainly hasn’t had six-over spells two or three times a day, which he is likely to do while preparing for the Test. Tomorrow he has a big test for us, if he pulls well, all things being equal we will be fine.

The other serious concern is that these issues could affect team spirit. Not everyone likes to see a player fly in, take part in a couple of training sessions and walk into the playing XI. It’s important to spare a thought for the others who have been sweating it out for over 10 days now.

“There is no running away from these things. It could have been the captain if he was playing for a Champions League team. We just talked about it from the start that Michael and Doug wouldn’t be here till a certain stage. We just let them know up front that if they are fit, they are more than likely to take their place in the team,” Nielsen said.