In cricket, you can go from zero to hero and back again for no rhyme and little apparent reason -- and often in the space of minutes.
Ask Abdur Razzaq, whose sloppiness in the field before tea gifted Sehwag two of his boundaries. Ask Imran Farhat, who dropped a catch a novice would have taken ten times in ten. Heck, ask Virender Sehwag, who tormented the Pakistan bowlers in Lahore and who, here, in good batting conditions and on a considerably smaller ground, gifted his wicket to a combination of those two.
In the first over after tea, Razzaq bowled one close to the off stump and put enough into it to make it kick even off this lifeless deck. Sehwag, playing the line, moved into the pushed-drive with hard hands, was beaten for bounce, got the ball high on his bat and turned around to see Imran Farhat celebrating after holding well in front of his face.
The wicket in fact didn't come as quite a shock -- unlike at Lahore, Sewhag here looked a touch undercooked; there wasn't, in his pre-tea play, the conviction you normally associate with the man nor, in his demeanor at the crease, the calm assurance he wears when he is on top of his game (39/1 India, Sehwag 31 off 43).
VVS Laxman -- who in Lahore spent an eternity with his pads on, watching Sehwag bat -- almost followed his vice-captain back into the hut when, an over later, he backed up too far for a Dravid square drive. Mohammad Yousuf raced across from point to field, threw at the stumps, and missed by a fraction with Laxman not even in the same frame as the ball.
Laxman took 14 deliveries to get off the mark -- but when he did, it was to the best cover drive you could ever hope to see, all silken grace and timing minus any sort of overt homicidal intent. Through the session, however, he batted well within himself, not hitting his shots with any power and relying, for the most part, on defense with the occasional pushes for runs.
For Pakistan Akthar -- as in the second session -- was the standout. Given the ball an hour into the final session, he yet again produced a superb display of sheer pace, slinging deliveries down at around the 93 mph mark, alternating the shorter deliveries with fuller ones, and constantly challenging the batsmen.
One passage of play was cricket at its most beautiful. In the 29th over of the innings, Akthar produced a superb bouncer around off (you can only imagine the effort it must have taken to make the ball rear so rudely, off this deck), that was met by an immaculate leave by Dravid. The next ball was yorker length, and again, met with the deadest of bats. The third was the swinging slower delivery outside off -- and Dravid walked towards it and eased it past point for the four that brought up the 100 of the Indian innings.
Dravid looked in ominous nick. The drives, on either side of the wicket, were played with easy authority; the leaves around off stump were assured and throughout, he seemed in no hurry whatsoever.
Speaking of hurry, calculating gameplans here on in is interesting. There are still 270 overs left in this game; the wicket will likely stay a touch lower, and take more turn, as the game moves into days four and five.
Pakistan can win, if it can bowl the Indian batting lineup -- short one member -- out twice under 588 or, at best, for a low enough total to be able to knock off the required runs batting last.
India's winning chance is harder to see. Pushing the envelope to utopian levels, it needs to score the 588 Pakistan has made, plus say another 150, 200 runs and then try and bowl Pakistan out in conditions that should be friendlier towards its two spinners. That involves batting till a little past tea on day four -- and that's a monumental job.
It perhaps explains why this Indian innings has, thus far, been played in second gear. Unlike in Lahore, India here is obviously intent on putting defeat out of the realm of possibility -- and that argues greater caution, as witnessed thus far in the Laxman-Dravid partnership. The trick for these two -- and the batsmen to follow -- would however be to play the defensive game without getting bogged down.
India, especially sans Sehwag, tends to do that -- put its collective head down in bullheaded defense even to deliveries that could be hit with impunity, or worked for singles.
Though the Pakistan bowlers on view bowled good lines and lengths in general, it does not explain the 75 dot balls out of 100 faced by Dravid to just 18 singles, nor the 67 dot balls off 80 faced against six singles and three twos in Laxman's name.
A prime example of the danger of that approach came in the 32nd over: Danish Kaneria fired one fuller, and quicker. In normal mode, VVS Laxman would have used his wrists to ease that through the onside field -- yet here, he lunged into predetermined defense, was hit on the pad, and was very, very lucky to see Rudi Koertzen keep his hands in his pockets on an appeal that was well worth upholding (Anil Kumble, back in the pavilion, was possibly feeling less aggrieved as he watched that).
India got the light, four overs shy of the full quota, and walked off with 110/1; Rahul Dravid, still to get out on this tour, 46 off 100 deliveries and VVS Laxman 28 off 80 deliveries.
Stand by for some 'Test' cricket tomorrow, folks -- it all points to a temporary end to the run fiesta, and a change of mood to attrition.
The morning session and post-lunch session; other cricket news and comment here.
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