Well, well, well. India’s decision to go in with six batsmen and only four bowlers may well be right after all. That is if they were looking to save the game than win it. They certainly have given a pretty strong opening response to the mammoth total by the Windies and so are in no danger of losing the Test.
With the pitch still playing well there’s every chance of India not only matching the West Indies total but even overhauling it as the West Indies without any bowler of decent pace look as if they are giving net practice to the Indians. Not that the Indian bowlers looked any different and even Anil Kumble was defeated by the slowness of the pitch and the lack of turn there. Harbhajan, of course showed exactly why it was a mistake to leave him out of the first two Tests by capturing five wickets in an innings once more and crucially he showed how he could have been very handy in getting rid of the tail which thwarted India in the first two Tests. He had the tailend batsmen all at sea and thus denied Shivnaraine Chanderpaul yet another century against his favorite opponents, India.
India’s bowling looked pretty ordinary as Patel was understandably not yet over the shellacking he got from Sarwan in that one over and it’s not easy to get past such mishaps. Hopefully he will find some former West Indian bowler who can tell him a thing or two though it’s doubtful if any past West Indies bowler has suffered such indignities as poor Munaf did. Yet Munaf remains along with Pathan India’s brightest prospects and hopefully again he will not be dropped for flimsy reasons like Pathan was and whose confidence was thus shattered by that decision. Pathan is India’s most promising cricketer and only last year was ICC’s Young Cricketer of the Year. To have ‘rested’ him as it was called was incredible considering that he is in his early twenties where even with injuries players are willing to play for their country. If he was tired and was to be rested why was he picked for the inconsequential last one-dayer since India had already lost the series by then and why was he selected for the friendly game just before the first Test. He should have been rested there and not for the first Test as it was clear that he was completely short of confidence and was unsure of what was expected of him. When he was brought back for the second Test. Now he has been left out again which will certainly not help his confidence.
Luckily Harbhajan is made of sterner stuff and inspite of some bashing in his early overs he came good with a ‘fiver’ and helped to terminate the West Indian innings. Not for nothing is he a fighter and the efforts to control him are sad because it will be a pity if he loses his natural aggressive streak in trying to toe a line which he has seldom broken and so which is not a problem area at all. Virender Sehwag has proven with that brilliant century that some players are best left alone to play their natural way and Harbhajan too has endorsed that with his performance. India are in this situation because they stubbornly refuse to learn from the previous Tests and continue picking four bowlers and dropping one of the better prospects so instead of winning the series 4-0 against this West Indian team which other countries have done in the none too distant past, India are now looking to save this Test and stay in the series.
