Jaffer and India show no mercy

Wasim Jaffer will think of this in years to come as Good or even Great Friday, but those that thronged to the Eden Gardens expecting a great spectacle were left with the same feeling that most of us get when watching stage-managed wrestling 'fights'.  The script became evident early on and by mid-afternoon, the only question was whether India would top the 366 runs they managed on the second day of their Sydney run-feast in 2004. There was also a slim chance that Jaffer might go on to eclipse the 228 that Virender Sehwag flayed on the opening day of the series in Multan [2004].

Such landmarks though are a source of delight only to the anorak. For the average punter who wants a good contest between bat and ball, this made for depressing viewing. In the final session, run-making was so easy that you had to remind yourself it wasn't a glorified net you were watching.

With Yasir Arafat, the replacement for the homeward-bound Umar Gul, arriving only in the morning, there was every chance that one or either of Pakistan's premier fast bowlers would be called up from the sickbed where they spent Wednesday and Thursday. But though he nudged the speedo past 91mph on occasion, it was quickly evident that Shoaib Akhtar was a pallid imitation of the man who has so tested Indian resolve in Delhi.

He ambled in and struggled to make it back to his mark and by the time Sourav Ganguly contemptuously square-drove the first ball of his final spell for four, it was clear that he was utterly spent. Incapable of covering vast stretches of turf on the boundary line, you even had a farcical scene where Shoaib fielded at point, a position usually reserved for the likes of Jonty Rhodes.

Mohammad Sami was a little more lively, bowling seven overs on the trot in his opening spell, but he continued to be cursed by the cricketing Gods. On the tour of England in 2006, Kamran Akmal specialised in dropping catches off his bowling, and there was another Iron-Glove nomination today when Sachin Tendulkar had made just 28. An upper-cut gone awry flew high to his right, but all Akmal did was palm it over slip. Sami looked like he might cry.

Akmal's mates were scarcely better though. More than once, the speeding ball nutmegged fielders or tempted them into dives that were a combination of the comical and the grotesque. More than once, the camera zoomed in on Younis Khan grimacing and it was hard not to feel for him on a stand-in captain's day from hell.

But as poor as Pakistan were, Jaffer was magnificent. Watching him as a special guest of the Cricket Association of Bengal was a man who once made five centuries here, and each time Jaffer clipped one off the pads through midwicket, it was hard not to think of Mohammad Azharuddin's magical innings against England and Australia.

Jaffer batted for most of the day alongside two of the greats of the game, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, yet such was his timing that he eclipsed both effortlessly. Whether it was the cover-drive, the back-foot punch down the ground or the wristy flick off the hips, Jaffer played with an elegance that evoked Azhar and VVS Laxman at their best.

No one suffered more than Sohail Tanvir, taken for 17 fours all round the ground by Jaffer alone. Test cricket is hard enough at the best of times, and Tanvir clearly wasn't prepared for a day when he would have to be both spearhead and stock bowler. He and Danish Kaneria had to bowl more than half the overs, and were the ones to be brutalised when Jaffer and Tendulkar cut loose after tea.

That Tanvir  bowled three overs of innocuous left-arm spin highlights just how bereft of options Younis was. And it could get worse on the second day, with Jaffer poised for a second double-century and Ganguly, Laxman and MS Dhoni all in fine nick. The pitch will again be low and slow, and those with long memories might hark back to 1978-79 when a remorseless Pakistani batting line-up laid waste India's bowling, ending the careers of half the famed spin quartet.

After Delhi promised much, you can only hope that Kolkata doesn't see the rivalry reverting back to type. With the notable exception of Bangalore in 1987 - when Sunil Gavaskar's peerless 96 illuminated an ill-fated run-chase on a raging turner - India and Pakistan don't play out titanic Test matches. The Indian run-rate is already so good that they might only need to bat five sessions to force Pakistan into salvage mode. If Shoaib and Sami are feeling the effects of first-day exertions, Saturday could be a new miserable experience.

Comments

[Tan]

Pakistan were appalling today. They had no plan at all, the fielding was the worst I'd seen in a test match in recent years. I was certain that Abdur Rehman would play and that Pakistan would have gone into the match with 2 spinners. Noticing the rough outside the lefthanders off stump it would have made sense to play him and if anything tie up one end with defensive bowling and attack at the other. Credit to Jaffer, he put the deliveries away, but he probably won't get it that easy in a test match again.

[avinash subramaniam]

question: why is a landmark a source of delight only to an anorak? isn't an anorak a kind of heavy jacket? it was interesting to see azhar there. i wonder how the indian players feel about him. as an insider, can you please throw some light on this? thanks.

[v]

Couldn't agree more and what was it with those strange field placings, when you have batsmen scoring more than 4 an over, why not go a little bit defensive? Can't help but think back when another fast bowler had to resort to bowling a bit of spin and that becoming his last match, poor old tanvir, hope that fate doesn't fall upon him.