They are as different as chalk and cheese; desert and the deep sea and perhaps Laurel and Hardy. But whenever they have come together, they have been as lethal as pair of well-oiled cannon.
Graeme Smith and Swapnil Asnodkar come from completely different backgrounds, but the Team Jaipur openers have been what Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have been to Delhi Daredevils. Well, almost.
Smith had perhaps never heard of Asnodkar till he came to Jaipur to join the team. And the Goan, for his part, had perhaps never dreamt that he would open with the South African captain. And yet, when they did come together for the first time, against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 1, it was the unknown Asnodkar who grabbed the spotlight.
"We always knew he was good,’’ Team Jaipur skipper Shane Warne said after Asnodkar’s 34-ball 60 turned out to be the match-winning performance. That was the first time this tiny Goan came into the limelight. That, despite Asnodkar accumulating 640 runs in the 2007-2008 Ranji Trophy season, that included an unbeaten 254 against the Railways. The Indian Premier League has been good to some unknown faces of Indian cricket and 24-year-old Asnodkar has capitalized on that.
"Even though Asnodkar has gained most from these associations,
Smith too would have relished these occasions. In fact,
quite often, Smith has played second-fiddle to Asnodkar"
Winning partnerships are always a learning process and when Smith returns after the IPL, he might feel little wiser too. The pair has already had two 100-plus stands and another worth 78 runs. Even though Asnodkar has gained most from these associations, Smith too would have relished these occasions. In fact, quite often, Smith has played second-fiddle to Asnodkar. The tall well-built Smith towers over the diminutive Asnodkar, but when it comes to the unorthodox shots that are so useful in T20, the South African has been too willing to let the Goan have the upper-hand.
Smith, who is suffering from a pulled hamstring, might miss Monday’s game against Mumbai Indians.
Talking about Smith, the South Africa skipper has flourished rather quietly. Even as the contributions of Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan are being hailed, it is quite interesting to note that Smith had been at the other end on most of the occasions when they blossomed. Smith has been associated in most of Team Jaipur’s big partnerships. Talk about consistency and Smith is your man in Jaipur. He is fourth on the list of run-getters and already has three half-centuries. He has scored more runs than any player of Team Jaipur.
"With Smithy at the top, we are safe,” Warne had said earlier. The vastly experienced Aussie would know. In fact, Warne had even gone to the extent of saying that not having Smith in their first match against Delhi Daredevils was a major cause for their defeat. The South African has gone on to prove that his skipper was right.
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