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October
13, 2008
 Indian
batsmen fought it out on the final day to force a draw in the
first Test at Bangalore. Their efforts were complemented by
bad light interruptions and the end result was a disappointing
one for the Aussies as they had India on the mat on the third
day afternoon. Of late, India has faltered on most occasions
when its famed batting line-up has been asked to bat out for a
draw. But today, Sachin Tendulkar came to the rescue with able
support from Gambhir and Laxman to bail out his team. It's not
often that Tendulkar has delivered the goods under crunch
situations but today it was totally refreshing to find the
little master handling an enormous amount of pressure with
total ease. It was a different matter that he still couldn't
break Brian Lara's record and the fact that he got dismissed
by an ordinary leg spinner.
India were set a target of 299 in about 83
overs with the Aussies batting out for 30 minutes this
morning. Australia collected 35 runs at the loss of Shane
Watson. The home side got off to a bad start with Virender
Sehwag getting
a leading edge to slip off Stuart Clark in the
6th over. The Aussies were very lucky to get Sehwag cheaply as
the previous delivery that Sehwag had faced before his actual
dismissal was a catch put down by the keeper off Brett Lee.
With Sehwag departing early, the hopes of chasing down 299
died down for India. Opener Gambhir and Dravid tried to calm
down the dressing room with their solid defence until Ricky
Ponting set a trap for Dravid's dismissal at mid wicket. Brett
Lee with a reverse swinging ball bowled one that drifted onto
the pads and Dravid played a full blooded flick shot which he
forgot to keep it down. Ricky Ponting at short mid wicket
dived to his right to take a stunning catch to convert what
was heading towards the boundary to a wicket. Dravid's fall
brought in Tendulkar in the middle. The little master started
off very well with an assured approach in both defence and
attack. And he along with Gambhir prevented any further damage
before lunch.
The post lunch session demanded the Aussies
to get atleast three wickets. But Gambhir and Tendulkar kept
on defying the quick bowlers for almost an hour until the
former played all around a full delivery from Mitchell Johnson
to get bowled in the 27th over. Gambhir, who had done all the
hard work failed to complete his mission of playing the long
innings. Johnson at this time was cracking up speeds over 147
kmph and mixing them up with a lot of slower deliveries.
Gambhir survived 81 deliveries making 29 runs. India were
reduced at 77 for 3 and had to face a possible 56 more overs.
New batsman VVS Laxman joined Tendulkar and after a first
innings failure was determined to make an impression which he
did. Both these experienced batsmen saw off the threats from
the fast bowlers and that forced Ponting to turn up to his two
underrated spinners Michael Clarke and Cameron White.
Tendulkar and Laxman didn't go after these spinners but
instead played according to the merit of the ball. Overs also
ticked by quickly and India found themselves well placed at
Tea to force a draw.
The home side had to negotiate two and a
half hours in the last session with a possibility of 35 overs.
With Tendulkar and Laxman looking very solid, Ponting bowled
his spinners most of the time and a draw looked to be very
easy. The weather also started to favour the Indians as it got
darker and darker with every moment. Tendulkar, who got
himself to 49 and 15 short of Lara's record was getting
restless because of the imperfect playing conditions. His
concentration was lost as a result and drove one carelessly
without reaching the pitch of the ball to spoon a simple catch
to short extra covers. The bowler getting that wicket was
Cameron White and it was a proud moment since it was only his
maiden test wicket. White almost was in tears after getting
the wicket. Sachin may not have made a big score but the 126
balls that he had survived surely saw India through. There was
not much of challenge left for Laxman and next man Ganguly as
they had a little over 30 overs to bat through and that too
against Michael Clarke and Cameron White. In between, play was
suspended twice because of bad light and eventually resumed at
4:45 with match to go on for just another 15 minutes or so.
India comfortably drew the match at 177 for 4 with Laxman on
42 (from 142 balls with 5 fours) and Ganguly on 26 (from 68
balls with 2 fours). The hosts survived a total of 73 overs.
Zaheer Khan was the Man of the Match for his
all round brilliance and in front of the entire Bangalore
crowd bravely said during the presentation ceremony that he
has never seen an Australian team play such defensive cricket,
which he thinks is a good thing for us. The aggressive and
highly confident Zaheer surely rubbed a lot of salt on the
wounds of Ricky Ponting and his team. The two teams now head
to Mohali for the second Test which begins on the 17th.
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