Misbah, Kamran, Younis and Sami snatched what seemed to be a definite win from India. The Indian captain was quick to put the blame of the result on Eden Gardens’ wicket which, according to him, was virtually dead. India did draw the match by some puerile bowling by Harbhajan Singh and lack of effort by the pace department.
True, the wicket had nothing to offer to the spinners but it had enough for the likes of Zaheer and Munaf. The pace duo should have mixed sheer pace with off-and leg-cutter deliveries instead of trying swingers. The latter failed because the wicket was too slow and did not offer much bounce. The visiting batsmen stood a chance of getting intimidated by pace when they were under pressure at five down in the first innings. On the other hand, Pakistan had one spinner short and Danish Kaneria could not perform at his best as compared to Kumble and Harbhajan. I liked Kumble’s thinking of rotating the bowlers and trying them from both ends. As always, seeing Jumbo bowl was a delight. He dexterously mixed pace with flight and took many batsmen off-guard by his straight deliveries. Shoail Tanvir is a great talent but needs to polish his bowling a bit. Batsmen read him quite easily. Shoaib Aktar needs to first get his fitness back and then his urge to get more wickets; nevertheless, he was impressive but not his usual ‘Rawalpindi Express’ self.
Pitch curator Mr. Mitra has not at all helped the cause of Indian cricket by preparing a dead wicket. Unless well accustomed to playing on wickets with good bounce and turn, Team India stands a little chance of performing well Down Under.
India did do justice to the track by posting a hefty total. The little master stood a good chance of posting his 38th test century on this wicket. VVS Laxman displayed some splendid batting to post a ton. Dada fought for and finally got what he desperately wanted – a test hundred on his home ground. Rahul faced 118 deliveries to score 50. His innings was cut short by an incorrect caught behind decision by Billy Doctrove. Dhoni did not quite deliver what was expected of him in both the innings. India would have posted more than 660 had Dhoni played his usual self. In the second innings also he did not quite live up to the expectations of his captain, who sent him to hit some quick runs at one down. Since India was not under any sort of pressure, I’m still not able to understand that why was Dhoni playing in such a restrained manner?! I’m very sorry for Karthik who is yet to get his form back. He is a very talented batsmen; the selectors should give him another chance to prove his mettle. Last but not the least, Wasim Jaffer, the man of the match, gave the dressing room every reason to smile. He posted his second best total and a double century to book his spot for Australian tour. He played like a master and displayed technical acumen in his batting by dispatching almost every other delivery to the boundary. Ultimately, he fell prey to an out-swinger by Tanvir and showed abysmal footwork while playing the shot. The result was a dolly to the wicket-keeper.
Now talking about the Pakistani lineup, the top order collapsed early during both the innings. It is mainly due to the presence of inexperienced batsmen like Salman Butt and Yaseer Hameed. They found it quite difficult to negotiate the spin of Kumble and Harbhajan. But the middle order stood like a wall and did not allow the Indian bowlers to make inroads easily. I’m quite surprised by the way Sami batted in the first innings. He played very defensively and did not at all give an impression of a tail-ender. He was lucky to get a life when he was dropped by Dravid. Pakistan has discovered some hidden potential during this test match in the form of Kamran and Sami. Misbah also did his best to avoid getting himself out dramatically. Kudos to Younis Khan for playing a captain’s knock in the second innings and acting as an anchor to bring his team home.
And Misbah-ul-Haq, where in Pakistan was this gem hidden for so long! He has a great potential and is very talented. The only bad news is that he is 33. He is very consistent and needs to display the same level of consistency for another couple of years. Hope Pakistani selectors discover many more Misbahs earlier than they are on the verge of retirement.
Overall, the Kolkata Test (11/30/2007-12/04/2007) was not at all interesting expect for the display of some great batting, good bowling by Kumble and deft handling of the pressure by the Pakistani middle order. The pace with which the visitors batted even put their coach to sleep; what would have been the plight of the spectators then?! The pitch at Bangalore is said to be no better than that at the Eden. The onus of draw is on India’s pace attack and a slacker of ground fielding. Rahul Dravid dropped a very simple catch off Sami’s bat and the result was that visitors avoided a follow-on. Misbah was given a life by Tendulkar. There were some half-hearted fielding efforts by Dada and Munaf as well.
So Team India left no stone unturned to see the match drawn.
Final Scores:
- India (616/5 decl & 184/4 decl)
-Pakistan (4656/10 & 214/4)
Result – Match Drawn
