Ahmedabad, November 19: Alastair Cook is not a crowd puller. But he can pull his weight in the team and score runs. Despite his elegant touch as a left-hander, he is not in the same mould as, say, a David Gower.
But let's accept it: he is not as boring to watch as Allan Border was! But he will surely settle for AB's 11,174 Test runs.
"Cook knows how he can score runs. He cuts the ball well, plays the odd sweep, plays straight, plays resolute. He has got defensive qualities and he has got good judgment and good decision making ability.
These are the qualities you need to make runs," said former England captain and batting coach Graham Gooch. It's not easy to please Gooch. But he appeared mighty pleased with Cook.
"He crafted a hundred today, put together a hundred. It is a different skill than scoring a hundred. When things go well and it all fits into place, people score hundreds. The boy just made it happen.
This is as any innings he has played, and it came under great pressure after a poor first innings. If you get bowled out for less than 200, then you are up against it because there is so much time left in the game.
"He can play such knocks because he is one of the best players in the world. It is not just physical skill I'm talking about. You need skill between the ears," Gooch said.
Some of Cook's figures ooze world class. He was the second youngest after Tendulkar to reach 5,000 Test runs at age 26. He has Test hundreds in Perth (versus both Warne and McGrath), Durban, Galle, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney, Nagpur and now Ahmedabad.
Except in New Zealand and the UAE, he averages more than 40 in other countries.
If his 766 runs in the historic Test series win Down Under in 2010-11 are mind-boggling, he scored his second consecutive hundred on Sunday following on in as many attempts (the previous one was the 118 in Galle 2007 in a rain-curtailed draw).
Cook did not score a boundary in the last 19 overs on Day 4 but Matt Prior was relatively aggressive at the other end, it did not make much difference.
A former wicketkeeper in the England dressing room - Andy Flower - will also be pleased with Cook.
But the England skipper needs to score more than 232 (Flower's score in the Nagpur draw of 2000) if they are to save this Test.
And yes, Cook can always look at his 294 against India in the Birmingham Test last year, batting for 773 minutes, for inspiration.
Motera Musings
KP falls to left-arm spin, again
When Kevin Pietersen was in the middle in both the innings, there was an unmistakable buzz. The eagerness among the spectators and the Indian team was palpable. Sadly, in both the innings, KP was a huge disappointment. Not because he fell for 17 and 2, but the manner in which he was dismissed. In the first innings he played down the wrong line to Ojha and saw his middle-stump knocked down. Then, in the second innings, he played a horrible predetermined sweep off a fuller-length delivery and was bowled round the legs. Presumably, there are less talented but more balanced batsmen in the England camp. KP has already got special treatment after the 'texting' drama. Now, he must prove he is a special Test player in Indian conditions. Time the England think-tank weighed his special ability and special inability on pitches like the one in Motera.
New Aswhin style
Off-spinner Ashwin tried various ways to keep the batsmen guessing. One of them was getting to the bowling crease by running between the umpire and the wickets despite bowling over the wicket! It proved to be a futile exercise as he is wicketless in the second innings despite bowling 41 overs.
Relentless spin
Dhoni's decision to not employ the services of part-time operators Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag on Sunday was somewhat baffling. But some of his moves worked. He shuffled his bowlers and opted for the left-arm spin of Pragyan Ojha when it was least expected. In the first over, he got rid of Jonathan Trott, a sharp chance plucked by Dhoni behind the wickets. For almost the entire Day 4, only spinners operated from the media end. Only at the fag end of the day, he gave three back to back overs to pacemen. The quickies did not bowl consecutive overs at any time in the first innings.
Low and slow
The low and slow nature of the wicket was well indicated by the way the slip fielders were stationed to the fast bowlers. At times, Dhoni kept just the second slip. And whenever he kept the first slip, it was positioned way ahead of him and not behind, which is where first slip fielders conventionally stand. Cook edged an Umesh Yadav delivery in the 81st over but it fell short of Kohli at second slip.
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