Despite yesterday’s obvious lack of communication over the timing of the declaration, the Indians looked focused on the field on day three. The Pakistani batsmen battled hard, although they seemed to be suffering from the effects of fielding for nearly two days. The Hameed-Inzamam stand apart, they were unable to string together a partnership, and that cost them dearly.
The difference in experience between the batsmen of both sides came to the fore when the youngster Hameed succumbed to the pressure caused by Inzamam’s dismissal and fell a few runs later. From being in a potentially good position to suddenly having two new men at the crease, the Pakistani innings went into a decline from that point onward. Compare this to the Indian innings when Sachin and Sehwag filled the breach caused by Dravid’s early dismissal.
The ‘experienced’ Pakistani pacemen should learn how to bowl in perfect batting conditions from their ‘inexperienced’ Indian counterparts. Everything, save the huge total put up by their batsmen, was against them, yet the Indian pacemen bowled in the right areas. Kumble, who isn’t a big turner of the ball anyway, followed a ‘You-miss-I-hit’ policy and kept attacking the wickets. The manner in which he bowled and the amount of turn that Sachin extracted does give the impression that both captains erred by picking just one specialist spinner. Moin’s dismissal in the last over has ensured that the Indians will be very positive on day four. Razzaq will have to keep going, but one wonders where the support will come from. If the Indians bowl out Pakistan before the total reaches 476, I believe Dravid should enforce the follow-on. His team may not fancy the idea of bowling and fielding a second successive time in the heat, and it will sure involve a lot of hard work, but then, that is ‘Test’ cricket for you.
