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Expectedly, the match ends in a draw

S. Ram Mahesh

Resolute show by Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman

— Photo: S. Subramanium

SILKEN TOUCH: V.V.S. Laxman’s class was on display in the second innings too as he scored an unbeaten half-century.

New Delhi: Expectedly, the third Test ended in a draw on Sunday, Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman batting resolutely, as they had on the final day of the first Test in Bangalore, to ensure India will carry a 1-0 lead to Nagpur.

What wasn’t expected on Sunday was Anil Kumble’s retirement. The Indian captain announced he would play no more, stripping the country of the services of its finest match-winner.

The great man split his little finger during the third Test, an injury that required eleven stitches, hindering his chances of playing the crucial fourth Test and prompting the decision. Fortunately, the country’s cricket fans had the chance to see their hero do what he has done better than most in the history of cricket one last time. Having secured the draw, Kumble declared India’s second innings and took the new ball. Thus ended an emotional day that had begun in more anxious circumstances.

Dravid’s woes

Rahul Dravid hasn’t had the best of times, his last two years realising runs at a rate of 20 runs fewer per innings than his career average of 53.14. It has been a curious slump: he has appeared woefully out of touch on occasion, but has managed a match-winning 93, at Perth early this year, during the midst of one such phase; he has looked assured at other points in time, but has failed to raise the sort of scores that made him India’s best batsman — and perhaps the world’s best — in the six-year period succeeding the turn of the millennium.

Sunday was an opportunity for Dravid to build a big innings. The situation — India ahead by 79 but with a tricky period to survive — was perfect for such activity, sharpening as it did the instincts of all involved. Dravid took Brett Lee while Gambhir handled Stuart Clark in the first half-hour, neither batsman turning the strike over.

Dravid wristed Lee of his front knee to square-leg for four, and appeared settled in between. The only hint of looseness was when Lee persuaded bat away from pad during a cover drive, a portent of how Dravid would fall.

A rapid, reverse-swinging delivery bent in, Dravid’s bottom-hand pushed at the ball, and the stumps were unsettled off the inside edge. Dravid hopped to the right after the attempted cover-drive, an indication that his balance during the stroke wasn’t as stable as he might have hoped. The wicket left India at 53 for three, 89 ahead and the threat of an ambush very real.

Masterful batting

Tendulkar settled the nerves in a 21-ball period of masterful batting — sometimes in Test cricket, even so short a period can be all-determining. The great man has been crassly criticised in the past of not bringing his ‘A’ game, to borrow the American expression, when India has needed it in the second innings. There is no doubt that he did on Sunday, his positive, steadying presence deflating Australia’s hopes.

Tendulkar square drove Lee for his boundary, delaying the turning of his wrists to miss backward point, before flicking the same bowler for the most sublime of threes. His trigger movement, the forward press, was carrying him into impeccable position, allowing him to push back if needed, and he steered Lee behind point for another boundary.

Gambhir batted solidly for his near-three-hour 36, but paid the price for congealing into strokelessness. Mitchell Johnson got one to swing in to the left-handed opener with the shine, forcing Gambhir to fall over. The batsman was unfortunate, for the ball looked set to miss leg stump.

One first-innings double-century maker replaced the other. Laxman batted beautifully on a slow wicket with Tendulkar, who had dropped his rate of scoring since the brisk agenda-establishing start.

All poise

Nothing the Australian bowlers hurled at Laxman affected him, each question dealt with circumspection or a swish of the wrists that sent the ball everywhere from third-man, right around the dial to fine-leg; even Johnson’s volley of verbal abuse in the penultimate over before lunch, which required the umpires to intervene, was handled with poise.

Tendulkar fell guiding a leg-break that bounced on him to slip, giving Cameron White another story for his grandchildren, but Laxman continued serenely, producing a melting drive off Michael Clarke’s left-arm slows for another score of over 50 against the Australians.

Sourav Ganguly ensured his last innings at this historic venue would be remembered for its spirit and spine, and soon, with the declaration, it was time for the Ferozeshah Kotla to salute its favourite hero, carried around the ground on the admiring shoulders of his mates.

SCOREBOARD

India - 1st innings: 613 for seven decl.

Australia - 1st innings: 577.

India - 2nd innings: G. Gambhir lbw b Johnson 36, V. Sehwag b Lee 16, Ishant c Ponting b Clark 1, R.Dravid b Lee 11, S. Tendulkar c Hayden b White 47, V.V.S. Laxman (not out) 59, S. Ganguly (not out) 32, Extras (lb-4, nb-1, w-1) 6; Total (for five wickets decl. in 77.3 overs) 208.

Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Sehwag), 2-34 (Ishant), 3-53 (Dravid), 4-93 (Gambhir), 5-145 (Tendulkar).

Australia bowling: Lee 17-3-48-2, Clark 12-6-22-1, Clarke 20.3-7-56-0, Katich 1-0-5-0, Johnson 12-0-23-1, White 8-0-23-1, Watson 7-0-27-0.

Australia - 2nd innings: M. Hayden (not out) 16, S. Katich (not out) 14, Extras (lb-1) 1; Total (for no loss in eight overs) 31.

India bowling: Kumble 4-0-14-0, Sehwag 2-0-14-0, Mishra 2-0-2-0.

Related link

Kumble's swansong Test ends in draw

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