Unbelievable. Simply superb. Very Very Special. These words have become the order of the day after 1:50 pm, 5th October. For, they are not exaggerated. India’s stupendous victory over Australia in the 1st test at Mohali today commands, not deserves, these accolades.
The day began with the balance of the match tilted slightly in Australia’s favour. All India needed, right from the onset of the chase, was one substantial partnership between any two players who were willing not to throw away their wicket.
Comparisons were already being drawn between this and the situation in the test match before this v/s Sri Lanka where we were in a similar position. 3 wickets down for 54, with 204 more runs to win. But so many times it has happened, almost to the point of it being a norm, that comparisons always have failed in the end. Can’t be. They can’t do it again. HE can’t do it again.
Zak fell after spending a decent amount of time today, akin to Ishant Sharma’s innings in Sri Lanka. And the comparisons held true only till that point. For quickly, from 85-4 we became 123-8. The dismissals were real bad. Just the kind which inevitably lead to a defeat. How many times we have heard- things simply aren’t going our way. If they had, Sachin wouldn’t have tried playing the upper cut to Bollinger. If they had, Dhoni and Raina would’ve been the last pair on earth to be involved in a run out. If they were, Gambhir wouldn’t have been given out, when he clearly wasn’t…
123-8, 93 more runs to win, just 2 wickets in hand/s Australia, well, if the phrase ‘backs to the wall’ was written, it was for situations such as these. Really, even the fanatic of fans (me included) had lost hope. Plainly because of the ways in which the batsmen were getting out.
But a man whose involvement in the 4 days of this topsy turvy test was almost nil was destined to decide the test match for good. Some people had doubts if Laxman would be playing on the 5th day. But even if Laxman is in a coma, and someone whispers in his ears-AUSTRALIA, he would be there padded up, on the pitch...
And he was playing a gem of an innings. Scoring very fluently-how many times has he scored his first 46 runs in just 48 balls? I am sure he won’t have done it even in the ODIs!! The way he split the gaps- ‘wrist’ pulling a short ball to split a gap between deep square leg and deep mid-wicket, caressing the ball through deep extra cover and long-off.., it was really, poetry in motion. The fall of wickets must have disturbed him mentally of course, so would be his back spasms, but none of them manifested into bad batting. And Ishant Sharma, solid as ever, also scored –which was very important, as Laxman couldn’t have scored all the runs needed.
A point to note was that many boundaries leaked in the crucial phase of 176-196 runs. You simply don’t expect that from Australia. They don’t give you a nanometer, let alone an inch! Also, I was surprised by Ponting bowling Shane Watson and Marcus North in tandem during this phase! Given they are partnership breakers and all that, but you simply don’t expect to see them in that situation together. Another surprise was the absence of a third man throughout the innings, which really is baffling considering the number of runs eventually scored in that region. Infact many modern captains don’t have a third man. I really am of the opinion that a third man is almost mandatory, particularly when tail enders are batting.
But it all was a matter of only 2 balls, and when the first of them came, you couldn’t help getting the feeling that our worst fears will come true- you don’t think another tail ender will again hold up the Australian hounds particularly after one before has played out 91 balls, given the pressure. Australians are masters of creating AND maintaining the pressure. But, Laxman is a master at handling Australia. In the end he took up the calling and his decisions combined with his runner Raina’s speed converted the ones into twos, and more importantly, helped in farming the strike. One could say that Raina was an unfair advantage that Laxman wouldn’t have been able to run that fast even if he was 100% fit, well then you wouldn’t have Dhoni run out! So, these things, just like the umpiring decisions even out over due course of time. (Although this is absolutely no excuse for the poor umpiring in the test)
And the clincher was the overthrow. Even in a dream that comes to you in dreams, one can’t imagine Australia conceding 4 overthrows when 6 runs are needed to win. And when Ojha (I mean, his pads) glanced the ball down fine leg, history was made.
History why?
Because India has never, never won a match like this against any team, let alone Australia.
Because once a wicket fell in such pressure games after a recovery, another inevitably fell-remember the test v/s Pakistan in Chennai. That Tendukar-Mongia partnership, then Tendulkar perishing to Saqlain Mushtaq only to see the rest following him too. This didn’t happen this time. Even after Sharma fell, Ojha managed to occupy the crease. And managed to score some runs as well.
Because India proved that it deserved to be numero uno in Tests...
So, my friends whenever evil casts its deathly shadows on India, an impenetrable Laxman Rekha will always be there to ward it off…..!!!
