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Cricket
By Vijay Lokapally
THANK GOD: Virender Sehwag looks to the heavens after reaching his century on day three of the second Test between India and New Zealand at Mohali on Saturday.
New Zealand 630 for six decl.
The Indian response to New Zealand's commanding total came on expected lines with the openers laying a good foundation with their positive instincts. The century by Virender Sehwag was in keeping with his growing reputation as a batsman of immense potential and the innings by Akash Chopra was just the kind of tonic the Delhi opener would require to boost his career. The Indian reply must have come as a big relief to the Indian bowlers who had earlier been subjected to a severe caning by the New Zealand batsmen. At the end of the third day, the Indian bowlers could not only sit back and enjoy the roles being reversed but also gain solace from the fact that their complaints about the lack of pace and bounce in the pitch were not utterly unfounded. The Kiwis set themselves a target which was achieved by Craig McMillan's sixth century in 46 Tests. The declaration happened once McMillan achieved the distinction of becoming the fourth Kiwi batsman to score a century in the innings. His mature knock only confirmed McMillan's value to the team in the middle-order. The Indian bowlers toiled with Anil Kumble emerging the best of the lot. The Kiwi skipper Stephen Fleming deserved credit for commencing with an attacking field even though it was always going to be tough against a batsman of Sehwag's nature on such a pitch. The gaps invited aggression and Sehwag's knock was an outstanding statement on his temperament. The surface suited his style and he capitalised on the opportunity by producing a racy century. He may have been subdued initially when compared to Chopra, who has emerged a reliable opener, but Sehwag did not waste time once he had gauged the situation. The pair attacked off-spinner Paul Wiseman and treated left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori with caution. The Kiwi bowlers were bound to struggle on a pitch which did not encourage the seamers much. With the ball coming on nicely, Sehwag was least troubled. He would remember this century, his fourth in 16 Tests, for more many reasons — his impeccable shot-selection, robust as always, being the feature of his entertaining innings. It was a fair indication of his form and Sehwag's resolve to make this season a very special one. It should also be a memorable season for Chopra, the opener who came into cricket essentially to become a scorer. With a collection of colourful pens, he would report for Sonnet Club matches. It was some time before he developed this love to bat and today he gave some shape to his ambitions with an innings that should establish him as a genuine opening batsman. Chopra, when he analyses his knock, may yet find a few shortcomings but there were positives in the manner in which he tackled the Kiwi attack. His innings ended abruptly with a casual nick to slips. Chopra would surely receive a stern call from his coach Tarak Sinha, who has always advocated the importance of making the bowlers earn their wicket. Indian pitches draw flak Virender Sehwag and Craig McMillan did not mince words when they spoke their minds on the state of pitches the teams have encountered in the current series between India and New Zealand. Sehwag called for administrators to improve the standard of pitches in the country. In obvious reference to the unresponsive pitches at Ahmedabad and Mohali, Sehwag said, "Why don't we play to our strength by preparing pitches which help spinners? What is the point of having such placid tracks? Overseas we don't get such tracks. So why do we have them here. This has been the slowest of all pitches I've seen at Mohali.'' Fleming stoked the argument with a telling comment that "you need to have more bounce in pitches in India. Your players can't play the ball bouncing above the waist and in India it doesn't rise above the knee level. "You guys are unbeatable at home but your overseas record is abysmal. Great sides win abroad and India doesn't. We're trying to win in all conditions.'' On his innings, Sehwag said, "I had aimed at batting long and not falling into any trap. I knew I could get the runs if I stayed patient. I was very keen to score here and I thought Akash (Chopra) batted superbly. He's technically very correct and we share a good understanding.'' McMillan confessed, "I hope India has a bad session. The ball does a bit in the morning and we're optimistic. The pitch is too good for batting and is playing pretty well. It was pleasing to get a hundred and it's now for us to apply ourselves and take all the chance that come our way.''
India bowling: Zaheer 26-8-95-0 (nb-2, w-1), Balaji 30-10-78-0 (nb-1), Tendulkar 22-3-55-1, Kumble 66-17-181-3, Harbhajan 48-7-149-2, Sehwag 5.3-1-22-0, Yuvraj 1-0-1-0.
New Zealand bowling: Tuffey 13-2-45-1, Butler 15-3-54-0 (nb-2, w-2), Styris 6-2-14-0, Vettori 24-14-27-0, Wiseman 10-1-55-0, McMillan 1-0-6-0.
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