There was a feeling of deja vu as Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday took Amit Mishra to the cleaners during a net session here, much like former skipper Sourav Ganguly would do with Murali Kartik a few years ago.
In 10 balls during a particular phase, Dhoni hit Mishra for half a dozen sixes and at least four boundaries which could qualify as near-about maximums. The manner in which Dhoni hammered Mishra into submission could be a reason as to why the skipper is reluctant on inducting the portly Haryana leggie into the playing XI.
Ganguly, in his heydays, was brutal on left-arm spinners. Many believe that it is precisely the reason Kartik’s Test career ended with just eight matches between 2000 and 2004 as the ‘Prince of Calcutta’ never faced any problems while facing him at the nets. And with Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in his ranks, Ganguly never considered Kartik a good enough option in either domestic or foreign conditions.
One felt the same while watching Dhoni bat against Mishra when the Indian team trained ahead of their World T20 warm-up game against England. A few were hit towards the cow corner while some were clear straight hits and a few lofted in the region between deep extra-cover and long off.
Not even once was Mishra successful in troubling Dhoni. While he hadn’t batted during the last net session and also during the first warm-up game on Monday, there was no rustiness as he took on both pacers and spinners with aplomb.