Ganguly leads Indian push for victory

Realistically, one team can win this Test from here, but it remains to be seen whether India will push for victory or hold on to the 1-0 lead that they have in the series. Given that they haven't won at home against Pakistan since the days when Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were in short pants, there's unlikely to be a wildly adventurous declaration, but if they can go along at a run-a-minute till half an hour before lunch, you might just see Pakistan being set 300 to win in about 65 overs. Geoff Lawson, the Pakistan coach, said they'd go for the runs, provided the target wasn't "ridiculous".

India are once again in control of the match thanks largely to another magnificent innings from Sourav Ganguly. When Wasim Jaffer departed, with the lead 115, there was a chance that India would go into the defensive shell that cost them the Cape Town Test last January. Instead, Ganguly came out bristling with intent, and a pull for four off Mohammad Sami showed that there would be none of the indecision that plagued India's line-up on a disastrous final day at this very venue two years ago.

On that occasion, he departed the stage to a chorus of boos, his future as an international batsman under a cloud. The renaissance over the past 12 months has been nothing short of spectacular, and is testament to the strength of will of a man who refused to take the easy way into retirement. When he goes to Australia, he'll find a comrade-in-arms in Matthew Hayden, who pulled himself back from the brink of oblivion at The Oval to once again reinvent himself as the most fearsome opening batsman of his age.

Ganguly's belligerent approach also allowed Rahul Dravid to play his part in an unbeaten 105-run partnership after an extremely scratchy start. At times, he looked nothing like the man who has been India's best Test batsman for half a decade, but any time he spends in the middle will be invaluable ahead of an Australian tour where he will once again be central to Indian hopes of success.

The stories of the day though were a Johnny-come-lately and a beanstalk. Only Pakistan's selectors can tell you where Misbah-ul-Haq was all these years, but when you think of some of the inept club-level batsmen that have been given the cap over the last few years, it makes his exclusion all the more mystifying. He has superb temperament, and the way he has shepherded the lower order in all three Tests augurs well for the Inzamam-less future.

As for Ishant Sharma, nothing can keep him off that flight to Australia now. He lost his run-up a few times, bowled a few too many no-balls and was wild and woolly on occasion, but the negatives were offset by the effort that he put in on a surface that would reduce most pace bowlers to tears. The final spell was just sensational - good pace, steep bounce and an awareness of what was needed to discomfit tail-end batsmen. On Australian pitches, he could be a very handy wild card indeed, especially with Sreesanth out of the equation.

Comments

[avinash subramaniam]

you think ishant is ready to go to australia? i suppose the exit of sreesanth does make it easier for him. though i'm very sure the aussies won't play him as badly as the pakistanis have. that said, we definitely could do with a bowler like him. hopefully, venky prasad will be able to help him iron out some glaring technical issues. happily enough, his heart seems in the right place. now if only we could do something about his arms, legs and head, he'd be perfect. all that said, he's a very useful work in progress for india.