The lack of a tail-wringer has been a problem with Indian cricket since it played its first Test match 70 odd years ago. How often we have seen the opposition top-order being winkled out for not too many, only to have the tail thwart them and take the opposition to a secure score. So it was not much of a disappointment to see the Pakistan tail wag long enough to get them a substantial lead and put pressure on India as they tried to get out of trouble. The lack of a genuine speedster who can frighten and blast out the lower-order batsmen is the prime reason for India not being able to dismiss the tail-enders quickly enough.
The tail-enders are also not comfortable picking the leg-spinner and like to have a heave as soon as the ball is given a bit of air.
What usually happens when the last few wickets don’t fall as quickly as expected is that it leads to a sense of frustration for the opening batsmen who start planning their innings as soon as the seventh or eight wicket falls.
There is then a bit of impatience when they eventually get to bat that leads to an indiscreet shot or two. Chopra, of course was not out to such a shot, but he wasn’t quite forward to the ball as he would have otherwise been. Fielding at that dangerous position and in the slips takes a bit of a dip when the turn for batting comes along. To Virender Sehwag of course, it makes little difference for he will bat in the same manner whether it is the morning of the match or late evening when only a couple of overs are left. He treated each ball on its merits and it was his aggressive batting that saved India the blushes though he will, if given another opportunity, not call Dravid for the single that got the captain run-out. The Indian skipper will also no doubt be ruminating over why he responded to that call when it was the last over before tea. India were not chasing a victory but were trying to get out of jail, so the risk involved was simply not worth the cost.
The Tendulkar of recent vintage is more a percentage player than a destroyer and thus there were huge expectations that he would play a match-saving innings like the one he played when he got his first Test century. The recent Tendulkar also is more prone to opening his right shoulder toward mid-on and that makes him play across the line a lot more than when his left-shoulder was classically facing the umpire.
He thus gets bowled or leg-before more than a batsman of his incredible ability should. Laxman has hardly looked the batsman he was in Australia just a couple of months back though in fairness to him he got the ball of the match which swung in slightly to him but moved away after pitching to take the off-stump. Patel showed the kind of determination that may well see him opening the batting in the last Test to accommodate Saurav Ganguly’s return to the playing eleven.
So a day that began well for India ended with Pakistan looking in sight of a series-leveling victory unless of course Virender Sehwag produces another masterpiece like he did in the first Test match.
Or is that being over-optimistic?
