M A I N   N E W S

India need early breakthrough
Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 5
If India did not end the third day of the first Test between India and England at the PCA Stadium in SAS Nagar on Wednesday in a much happier frame of mind they must blame their bowlers who were unable to get a wicket in the England second innings. The visitors, behind by 231 runs in the first innings after the hosts had ended their first essay at the crease at 469, were able to prevent any damage to their second innings and managed to score 34 for no loss after facing as many as 20 overs in 84 minutes of batting.

Both new ball bowlers, Tinu Yohannan and Iqbal Siddiqui, bowled with a lot of fire and posed quite a few problems for the England openers. Tinu, in particular, generated a lot of pace off the pitch and was distinctly unlucky in not getting the edges. In contrast, Siddiqui swung the ball around but a breakthrough also eluded him. Although both bowlers were bowling well and in the normal course would have been given a few more overs, Saurav Ganguly opted to induct his main weapon in spin when Anil Kumble was given the ball in the ninth over of play. And two overs later Harbhajan Singh was called into the attack as India went into the spin mode desperately looking for a breakthrough. That it would have been a better idea to have Harbhajan coming on from the far end is a matter of conjecture but the fact remains that in the England first innings Harbhajan tasted a fair amount of success while operating from the PCA pavilion end.

Of the two Indian spinners it was Harbhajan Singh who was given more respect by the England batsmen. In contrast Kumble’s impact on the England batsmen was less. Time and again he wavered both in line and length. The England batsmen knew that the onus of grabbing the advantage was on the Indian bowlers and were in no hurry in pushing the game along. Mark Butcher and Marcus Trescothick were content in playing the waiting game. There were a few close calls here and there but it did not disturb the poise of the England batsmen.

With two days left the writing is on the wall for the England squad. But knowing that their strength is in their batting, India must not let the initiative slip away when play resumes tomorrow. They must go for the kill right from the word go.

Earlier, India resuming at their overnight score of 262 for three were able to add an additional 207 runs before their innings folded an hour before the scheduled close of play. One would think that Sachin Tendulkar was a trifle unlucky in not getting his 27th Test century as he was out after scoring a brisk 88 without showing a single sign of discomfiture. Also unlucky was overnight not out batsman Rahul Dravid, who was also out in the eighties, after adding only eight runs to his overnight score of 78. Dravid was out after 37 minutes of play this morning, trapped in front of the wicket by Ormond. Dravid’s 86 came in 301 minutes of batting during which he faced 206 deliveries. His 10 fours had the stamp of authority. But Dravid must be blamed for slowing down the India innings yesterday. Although he does lend solidity to the Indian innings he must know that he must keep the scoreboard ticking specially since the England bowling looked pedestrian.

Dravid fell with the total reading 290 and 80 runs came in the fifth wicket between Sachin and Ganguly. Sachin departed at 370 after his 88 (229 minutes, 144 balls, 13 fours) and eight runs later Ganguly fell bringing in two new batsmen at the crease. Both fell to Matthew Hoggard who together with off-spinner Richard Dawson looked to be the best among the England bowlers.

The one person who had problems with the rising short-pitched delivery was skipper Saurav Ganguly. Although he did execute some copybook cover drives his undoing also came when he tried to negotiate a Hoggard delivery which reared up. Ganguly jumped up and unable to control his stroke holed out to Graham Thorpe at cover. Ganguly did manage to score 47 (126 minutes, 95 balls seven fours) but his dismissal probably prevented India from posting a bigger total than they actually did.

The one Indian batsman who totally disappointed today was V.V.S. Laxman who was once again out after scoring 28. This classy batsman whose name has entered the record books with that knock against Australia in Kolkota earlier this year must know he now has stiff competition for the No 6 slot in Virender Sehwag. Today’s poor performance might well cost him his place in the playing eleven in the second Test at Ahmedabad next week. But if Laxman disappointed the cameo knock from Sanjay Bangar — 36 off 110 balls — who is yet to recover fully from his hamstring muscle injury must have gladdened the hearts of many. Maybe it is this Railways player who can fill the allrounder’s slot.

Scoreboard

England (1st innings): 238

India (1st innings):

Das b Butcher 2 Dasgupta b White 100

Kumble c Foster b Dawson 37

Dravid lbw b Ormond 86

Sachin c Foster b Hoggard 88

Ganguly c Thorpe b Hoggard 7 

Laxman c Hussain b Dawson 28

Bangar c and b Dawson 36

Harbhajan lbw b Dawson 1

Siddiqui b Hoggard 24

Yohannan not out 2

Extras: (lb-12, nb-4, w-2) 18
Total (all out, 169 overs): 469

Fall of wicket: 1-23, 2-76, 3-212, 4-290, 5-370, 6-378, 7-430, 8-436, 9-449.

Bowling: Hoggard 32-9-98-3, Ormond 28-8-70-1, Butcher 7-1-19-1, Flintoff 34-11-80-0, White 25-8-56-1, Dawson 43-6-134-4.

England (2nd innings):

Butcher batting 11

Trescothick batting 16

Extras: (b-5, lb-l, 7

Total (for no wkt, 20 overs): 34

Bowling: Yohannan 5-0-9-0, Siddiqui 4-2-2-0, Kumble 6-2-16-0, Harbhajan Singh 5-4-1-0.