Slipping through the fingers

If India do go on to lose this game, they'll look back ruefully at the third evening, and the chance that Wasim Jaffer failed to grab. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were on a roll, with three wickets having fallen for 12 in an eight-over spell. Younis Khan had succumbed to Kumble, and the other half of the duo that has tormented India so often, Mohammad Yousuf, had been deceived by the first ball of Harbhajan's second spell. When Shoaib Malik chopped one on, Pakistan were effectively 116 for 5.

Just another run had been added when Misbah-ul-Haq, who had held the first innings together, was flummoxed by the sort of steep bounce with which Kumble has snared batsmen for nearly two decades. As the ball arced towards forward short leg, Kumble's arms were nearly aloft in celebration. That soon gave way to disgust as Jaffer failed to hold on.

By close, Misbah and Kamran Akmal had taken toll of tiring bowlers to add another 50.  If they can bat on another hour on day four, it could well be the difference between victory and defeat. And then the tired cliches about catches winning matches really will come back to haunt India.

Comments

[Dileep]

Not much point talking about the dismal batting now, but catches have to be held. That's what separates the best sides from the also-rans, as was so clearly shown in the Australia-Sri Lanka series. Apart from Phil Jaques, who fields a bit like some Asian players do, there's hardly a weak link in that Australian side.

[Homer]

The one dropped catch will hardly matter much in the grand scheme of things.

Yes, India would have had a leg up if they had held on to the catch, but India's bowling has hardly been incisive enough to create chances.

And India's batting had a golden opportunity to build a sizable, and in all probability decisive, lead in the first innings, that they muffed.

Also, even if we are to assume that the Pakistanis bat out two sessions tomorrow and accrue another 100-120 runs, India has the better part of 4 sessions to make a fist of it.

The million dollar question is - will India bite? Or will they, in the truest tradition of the Mumbai and Newlands Test, withdraw into their shells and try to eke out a draw.

[v]

I don't see the pitch deteriorating or anything so chasing down a target of 300 is not all that tough, provided the Indian batsmen show some application.