Last Day's action from the 4th Test - Jan 2008
January 28th 2008 13:40
Sehwag and Dravid began the day's battle against Lee and Clark. It was critical for India that the team gets off to a good, safe start and not have to expose its middle order too early in the day when all the quicks are still fresh. At the same time, it was important for Australia to understand who were the bowlers who would pose maximum risk with the new ball for the Indian batsmen. This time they got it right and they went in with Lee and Clark.
Clark with his just-above-medium pace needs the new ball to wreak some damage and in general add to his swing and cut. With the older ball, his cut and swing is easier to negotiate especially since he does not reverse swing the ball.
Sehwag though has been taught only that the best form of defense is attack. And he also thinks that while you are batting from the trench, you can also get up and shoot. This makes it difficult for the enemy to come closer and negate the advantage of your trench. Now, this is some strategy that even the in-the-trench warfare specialist Rahul Dravid could take note of. At the same time this could also be one of those things that work best for specific people.
Despite all criticism, Rahul Dravid moved nicely, early and middled every ball. He generally looked very positive until, Lee, bowling his heart out, struck Dravid a painful blow on the bottom hand. Every time that Lee went wider of the crease to angle the ball in and pitch it short, the batsmen were discomfited with some extra bounce that he managed to get. Dravid's rap on the knuckle was a case in point. The blow required treatment from John Gloster, the Indian physio and Dravid looked like carrying on - though the occasional wince on his face and his repeated clenching and unclenching of his right hand told a different story. He played another express delivery from Lee - who made him defend a fast length ball before deciding that he would be better off to go and take that X-Ray and find out what was wrong with his right hand. As it turned out, there was a hair line fracture.
Meanwhile Lee was hurling down veritable thunderbolts. One, timed at a 149.5 kmph, was astonishly, a bouncer. This searing short ball hit Sehwag righ amidships albeit at the back, when that worthy was in the process of ducking and promptly ricocheted to the fine leg boundary. Sehwag, the plucky character that he is, unflinchingly took off immediately after the blow and stopped running only when the ball crossed the boundary. Real commitment that.
Tendulkar came in and he was subjected to a quite torrid spell from both Lee and Clark. Clark with his tailing swing before achieving cut off the pitch seemed to pose the most threat. But today the maestro would not bow to anybody. Instead he was going to shoot himself on the foot. But that would be getting ahead of the script. So, lets stick with Sehwag.
A Sehwag in full cry is a sight for the wounded and the hungry. He swats away the good or the bad balls as if they are flies roaming around in his vicinity. And he defends only what cannot be swatted away. His technique is beautiful for its simplicity and the extent to which it has aided Sehwag in being able to remain such a force with the minimum of foot movement and in helping him retain his balance at the crease when making contact with the ball. These two qualities differentiate Sehwag from your average aggressive stroke maker who is sent to give hell to the bowling team.
And today Sehwag was in full cry. Full blooded strokes all round the wicket were in view - none better than the leaning cover drive - played all along the ground, many a time. In the process, he also helped Ponting by relieving that worthy of some more of his hair and thereby saving him some shampoo expenses. Ponting, looking literally frazzled, made regular bowling changes as well as changes in the field. But it never seemed to matter to Sehwag. Correction - it mattered, in the sense that it made him think about the areas in the field that he needs to hit the ball to. Since the field altered frequently, he sent the ball to different parts of the ground - frequently.
But it would be remiss if one were not to mention his hard and intelligent running between the wickets. He may still have the vestiges of a paunch. But that does not stop him from pushing even Sachin Tendulkar between the wickets. This is subcontinental flair for you. The extent and size of your belly need not hamper plying of your skill. This must be heartening for one Ramesh Powar - though there can be no comparison on the running front between him and Sehwag. But the way Sehwag ran today reminded one of Ranatunga in his heydays. Our blazing right hander does not have anywhere near the sumptuousness of belly that the Sri Lankan yesteryear captain had, but he still stands testimony to the fact that you dont have to look like Jesse Owens to get between the wickets. I am of the school that strongly believes that if Jesse Ownens or Carl Lewis were to compete in an event with the 36 year old Sachin Tendulkar which involved running between the wickets, the latter would win easily. It is not how fast you run, but how quickly you judge a run that is important. Today that was demonstrated by Sehwag through many 3s and 2 all run 4s too. There were singles and doubles galore right through his innings.
Sehwag duly completed his century with a thudding cover drive for boundary. It sure was in the air but the already frazzled Ponting had enough on his hands trying to save the boundaries that he had forgotten all about setting a field to catch Sehwag's shots. The celebration afterwards was intense and emotional. It was a reckoning of sorts and he would have proved to himself that he can be the force that India needs at the top of the order and that he belonged right then and there. It was also a pleasure to watch him hug Sachin and bury his head into the senior statesman's shoulders. A great sign of camaraderie and respect between the two players, that.
Shortly after that Tendulkar misjudged a run completely and was run out by Johnson off a direct hit. Johnson was bowling from over the wicket (left arm, that is) and Tendulkar, tucking one off his hips onto the leg side pretty close to the wicket wanted a run. But there was none in it and Johnson who only need a couple of quick strides after his follow through to get to the ball, coolly threw down the wickets at the striker's end to finish off Tendulkar.
The master had looked resolute and unflappable. He was on a well compiled 13 and was looking good to compile more runs and stay there with Sehwag. But it was not to be. His dismissal was of his own making and it must be said that this was one of those rare instances when he had completely misjudged a run.
The Sehwag show of pyrotechnics went on playing. Ganguly came in and without doing much walked out. It was an interesting dismissal. Though he had not looked shaky at all, a full delivery off Johnson saw him strike the pitch with his bat and therefore spoon the ball to Hussey at short cover who did the rest. The decision was referred by Asad Rauf to the 3rd umpire who completed the duties and declared the batsman out.
Enter Laxman at No. 6. His impeccable timing and unbelievable tryst with the Australian bowlers seemed to be continuing as he played some delectable shots - even one lovely pull which was reminiscent of that Kolkata innings. But soon after, he got out to Lee, who was in the middle of another raging spell. Seeing one short delivery pulled out to deep mid wicket, Lee charged in to deliver another. This time the ball was going just past the batsman's hip. But Laxman, seeing an opportunity to bag a glanced boundary, canted his wrists at it. But he was just a tad too late and the ball instead of hitting the face of the bat, rolled off the edge and landed safely in Gilchrist's gloves. Lee had been rewarded for some accurate and effort-filled fast bowling on a track which was not particularly helpful.
By this time, Sehwag had started to shift gears in his innings. He had down shifted in order to negotiate through the speed bumps that Australia's bowlers had conjured up. And nothing that they could throw at him would faze Sehwag today. He went on to compile yet another 150 - this was the 9th consecutive time that Sehwag had gone on to complete 150 when he had crossed a century. Now that is a feat which highlights the pudgy opener's resolution and penchant for big innings.
Dhoni, who had come in in the meanwhile, seemed to have taken a page out of Sehwag's book but one could be excused for thinking that he misread its contents. He kept on swinging at the ball and keeping the bowlers interested. Ponting though showed some effects of the twinge in his back that he had yesterday. He had Symonds come in to bowl at Dhoni. This was the respite that our Maahi had waited for and immediately set about carting him over long on for a big boundary. But Lee came back to polish him off. The signs were there and one is sad to see that the Indian vice captain for the tour did not look the part with the willow in his hand. Earlier in the spell, Lee had struck the Indian vice captain a painful blow on the upper arm. It was a blistering short ball to which Dhoni could not decide whether to weave away, duck under or offer a shot to. Finally he just stood there and let the ball hit him. 'Ouch' was the reaction unanimously from all Indian cricket fans. And this was followed by the universal sucker ball. It was sad to watch the Indian vice captain fall to a tactic that fast bowlers have reserved for tail enders as part of a rich tradition. He reached out to a half volley outside off stump and even seemed to close the face of the bat - probably attempting to drive it straight rather than square. But all he managed to do was get a thick edge which was held brilliantly by Hayden - now standing at a widish second slip. This was easily the 'catch of the summer' as the commentators so aptly put it. For me, this was the catch of the series. One hopes that Dhoni would use the ODI series to infuse confidence back into his game.
Kumble batted time for a while but in this phase, just after Tea, Sehwag lost concentration and edged a full delivery from Symonds through to Gilchrist and walked dejectedly to the pavilion. But he had done his job. He had scored more than half of his team's runs and more importantly the runs were scored at such a pace that the pressure was always on the opposition even when they were picking up wickets. It takes a rare man to do such damage and that too to the peerless Australians, at their home!
Kumble and Harbhajan batted for a while denying Australians any breakthrough. Then a little while before the scheduled end of play, Harbhajan went playing an aggressive shot, caught at cover, brilliantly this time by Ponting. And his celebrations followed by a beautiful and smart drop kick of the cricket ball belied his back trouble.
Ishant Sharma along with the valiant Kumble - who, in this series has even managed to make more of an impression with the bat than even with the ball - played out time and drew the contest.
Interestingly the authorities chose Sachin Tendulkar as the man of the match. Anybody who had seen the match would have confirmed that it was Sehwag who deserved that accolade. But Sachin got it, reportedly, for his classily compiled 153 in the first innings of this Test. The man of the series was unsurprisingly, Brett Lee.
In the post match interviews, Kumble talked glowingly of the pride with which he views the performances of his team and of how he feels about the comeback of Irfan and Sehwag along with the big positive in the bowling department in the form of Ishant. He also confirmed his appreciation of the batting heroics of the senior brigade comprising of - Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman.
Ponting, meanwhile, conveyed his appreciation of India's effort, application and competitiveness over the series and said that they rightfully deserved the tag of being the No. 2 team. He made a poignant point when he said that they had blanked England and South African in recent series and so for India to have won 1 Test here is a big achievement. Ah, one can expect Ponting to cut even when he delivers praise
Gilchrist, the champion, had played his last match. And the last scenes of the match showed him along with his wife Mel and his kids in loving embrace of each other. When he spoke to Harsha and team, he mentioned how his decision to retire came about during the course of this match - not even a day before the match. The last but not the least thing he mentioned was about how India had unveiled a wonderful and lethal fast bowler in Ishant Sharma. Now that is a big compliment coming from somebody who has kept wickets to genuine quality quicks over many seasons.
Congratulations Ishant, but there will be time to talk about and with you later.
Today though is Gilchrist's day. Thank you Adam for the wonderful memories you have provided us with and for the high quality, high octane and high spirited game you have always shown - whether with the bigger gloves or with the smaller ones. Well played and you deserve a breather now. But not without a final hurrah in the Commonwealth Bank ODI series, though!
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