Sessions, test matches and the ongoing test series was completely dominated by England till the 2^nd test match. As the practice game started, a positive outlook was taken with all the top players including Sehwag, Gambhir and Zaheer Khan into the game.

The practice game was over and India already had a sad news to deal with, with Zaheer Khan already injured and doesn’t look like getting into the team till next 4 months atleast.

A series which is very unfortunate for India, with number of Indian players getting injured at the same time. As the 3^rd test match started, India was forced to go in to bat but with the best batting line-up they’ve used in this series so far. But unfortunately India has a disappointing start with Sehwag out for a duck with a ball which is short and bounced unevenly and sharply. Though umpire wasn’t convinced and the DRS came into play. And the result was out.

A partnership was building up between Gambhir and Dravid, though Bresnan soon played the spoilsport and Gambhir was bowled with ball hitting the stumps after getting an inside edge of his bat. Soon the other batsmen also followed him up to the pavilion including the in-form batsman Dravid whose went flying in the air because of an excellent delivery by Bresnan. India’s top order was destroyed because of some supreme bowling performances by Bresnan and Broad. Though Swann as usual wasn’t visible with his mediocre performances totally overshadowed because of magnificent performances by other English bowlers.

Even the apparent Vaseline user, VVS Laxman was set to the pavilion after playing a lazy pull-shot straight into the hands of the fielder. Now, with Dhoni being the only batsman left in the middle, with no form on his side, a score of 150 looked good enough.

But Dhoni fought and how! With a partnership of around 84 runs, the plan to counter-attack worked wonders for the Indian team. A score of 25 and PK got back into the pavilion. Soon Dhoni followed after scoring a magnificent 77, which wasn’t expected from him since he has been looking out of touch since a long time. Not like he wasn’t expected to, but obviously the expectations went down after multiple failures. Soon India was out and out with the score of 224 in their kitty.

With just half the day over, entire Indian team was back into the pavilion. There were things going around about what would the England team do if there were similar kinds of riots in Mumbai and they were playing in India. Since, England had already pulled out of the series which was in the playing mode when the Mumbai terrorist attacks happened in 2008.

England comes out to bat, and Indians come out to field. As a routine for this series, Praveen Kumar starts things off. Slowly the English batsmen start building their innings. Slowly and steadily the fours start flourishing as still there are no teeth in the Indian bowling line-up. As the day gets over, India is already struggling against 2 of the players in the England side who haven’t scored heavily as the rest of the batting line-up has. At 84/0 they were quite in contention to level the scores in no time.

As day 2 started, India was still in search for a wicket. English batsmen were in no mood to give away their wicket that easily. Indian bowlers were trying hard, but not to the impact they would have liked it to be. England was 186/0 already and in no time. Mishra bowling from one of the end, bowled a beautiful ball which sharply turned and went on to hit Strauss’s pads but the appeal was turned down. Patience was rewarded. Again the ball turned sharply and this time it goes right to just clear the stumps. English captain was out after playing a brilliant innings.

Ian Bell soon came in and played his natural shots. Scoring in no time and he was off with a flying start. Scoring boundaries all over, there was a traumatic situation for the Indian bowlers. What has Indian players done right in this test match?

Batting? No! Bowling? No! And now fielding too? Ian Bell was dropped at the slips by Dravid after a superb out-swinger just cut through Bell’s bat. A low catch which should have been taken. Even the fact that Dhoni’s captaincy skills have gone for a toss is true. Commentators have wondered a number of times since the start of the test series whether why do the slips and the wicket-keeper himself stands so away from the stumps that the ball doesn’t even carry properly? Even there have been problems to whether why doesn’t the third-man be in his position for some players and when it is necessary?

Ian Bell was finally out because of a cracking delivery which went past him right to help the stumps flutter in the air. But right before that, Alaistar Cook scored a well-deserved century applauded by everyone. Building up his innings slowly and with all the composure he didn’t give any chance to the Indian bowlers. With Pieterson already in, the platform for India in this test match was already lost.

Scoring at the speed of bullet, Indian bowlers were thrashed all around. Except Praveen Kumar all the bowlers went for runs. While Sreesanth was struggling against the left-handers, Ishant Sharma was struggling against right-handers.

Praveen Kumar again strikes as he gets Pieterson trapped in front of the stumps. Though Pieterson looked thoroughly dejected, hawk-eye showed he was clearly out. But these wickets never made a difference as the other English batsmen just came out and continued to score at a brisk rate. Eoin Morgan another English player who’s already on the verge of scoring a half-century. A life-line was given to him though en-route his knock as Sreesanth dropped a simple catch. The fielding looked as dull as the players, since even Tendulkar couldn’t see the ball coming right towards him which was chipped off in the air by Cook and if he would have just attempted it would have been in his hands.

England at 455/3 are at the top of the game and doesn’t look to declare their innings nor do they give any indication to get destroyed by the Indian bowlers. But with India having a batting line-up as such, you can never under-estimate them even though they haven’t reached a single score of above 300 in the entire series till now.

Though the credit not to be taken away from England bowlers, who bowled exceptionally well. Getting the wickets of well-set batsmen with an aura on their side is a difficult job. But Anderson, Broad, Tremlett and Swann which made a formidable bowling line-up bowled the Indian batsmen to tatters. 2 dropped catches, LBW decisions given not-out controversially by the umpire and all the other obstacles obviously came in their way but they still went on to win the game against the odds. And they would have certainly thought about why they agreed to ‘no UDRS for LBW decisions’.

Anderson, who led the pack, first got Dravid out with the out-swinger which he nicked it to the keeper. A well-settled partnership was then broken by him back again when Laxman played a lose shot to give a catch straight into the hands of mid-wicket.

Gambhir and Tendulkar soon got out without showing much resistance in the match. Tendulkar looked quite in the rhythm, but too much defensiveness against the bowlers got him out of the match as Anderson again got an important wicket by trapping him in front of the stumps. Even Dhoni didn’t stay for long at the crease when he should have given support to the other end.

Batsmen troubled all over. Broad who was criticized for his inclusion before the match justified his inclusion altogether. Troubling the batsmen with his perfect line and length was his only aim. A hard-working all-rounder, he did all that he could to get the wickets on Indian batsmen. A determined shout against Tendulkar which looked plumb and he was given not-out. Even against Raina, he almost got his wicket and he was on the ground feeling heartbroken about which looked like a plumb and Billy just disagreed.

The only batsman who fought and got India into the fight was Suresh Raina, who made a gritty 78 against this English attack. When a batsman who is just 12 matches old, plays such a mature innings why can’t the others? Raina’s innings was gritty, patient and what is called as a shadow of a complete test batsmen. A slight polish and he’s already booked a place in the test squad for a permanent time.  A little time more he would have stayed to save the match and he could have been adjudged as the man of the match. But who would have been able to avert his wicket with that kind of delivery from Anderson.

Hopes were lost, and Indian tail-enders wouldn’t have been able to prevail for 28 long overs; and against a bowling line-up as such?

Though a match lost, it does have some positives out of the match. Raina, Mukund in the batting department where their temperament was tested and they did show patience to get some prominent scores. Dravid’s form was a worry for India, but does it look like the same anymore? Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar’s spells does show a good sign as India desperately needs an excellent seamer to partner Zaheer Khan.

England will be relieved looking at what they’ve done after what seems to be not the same as what happened in Lord’s in 2007 when India drew the match then. Now with another match in some days, its going to be difficult with Sehwag already out of contention for a place and Zaheer injured too. Uno numero status in danger, certainly!

As the first day began, the Lord’s had overcast. An excellent start to the game, as the pitch looked like a bowler friendly one. Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar’s sheer swing disturbed the batsmen, especially since Andrew Strauss is known to throw away his wicket against left arm seamers. Soon enough, Zaheer Khan provided India with a strike as Alastair Cook couldn’t go beyond the single digit mark. Soon Andrew Strauss departed too. Though, Zaheer soon had to walk out of the field because of a muscle pull and India were left with 3 bowlers. A struggling Pieterson trying to find his run-making ability couldn’t score as well as he normally does.

Though, India missed out on a lot of opportunities. Sharma missed out on an opportunity to run out Strauss when he was on 2. While Dravid missed out on a catch of Trott. A partly-blind sighted Dravid again missed out on an easy catch of Trott again at 1^st slip off Zaheer Khan’s beautiful out-swinger.

With day over with just 49 overs played, England were left at 127/2 with Pieterson struggling and Trott scoring an outstanding half-century. Apart from the fact that Indians could have fared way better than this as the ball swung because of the overcastting skies.

As the day passed, England were already at the crease and rearing to go.  Almost 3 years, a big match difficult conditions and that’s all he wanted to score a century at Lord’s and his third double century. Though it was his slowest double century, but it was a century made with sheer temperament and exceptionally well played. An innings built and played against all the odds that were standing tall against him.

With the Indian pace attack already paralyzed because of Zaheer’s injury, Praveen Kumar showed India the way. Exceptional bowling, he tried everything in his book to restrict them but with no support from either bowlers. Except for the fact that, Bhajji didn’t bowl badly. Praveen Kumar had an excellent start to his test career, picking up 5 wickets at the Mecca of cricket. As people say, if god has taken something from you, he will give it back to you in a better way. A dejected Praveen Kumar was left out of the World cup squad because of an injury, but he has made an impressive comeback with his first few matches in test cricket. His double blows at regular intervals did disrupt England’s batting for a while but Pieterson continued forming partnerships with Ian Bell, Matt Prior and Greame Swann. As Pieterson neared his double century, the original Pieterson was back leaving away his shadow as he attacked and how! The last 30 runs was a mere waste of effort by all the bowlers he was scoring against. Atlast they declared at 474/8, the crowd applauding for a superb double century and Praveen Kumar and Pieterson acknowledging each other’s excellent offers. Indian openers on the other hand tried and survived on the second day of the match at 17/0.

But the highlight of the day couldn’t be missed. The ball in the hand of M.S.Dhoni, Indian captain and wicketkeeper and the gloves in the hands of Rahul Dravid. But what amuses me is the fact that he almost got Pieterson out twice in the 8 overs he bowled. Once, Billy Bowden even judged him out, but UDRS just helped him out. But did Dhoni have an option? He sure did, 3 strike bowlers whom he had to rotate all the time, Raina and Sachin as part time bowlers who could be driven all around the ground. Being a gambler, he tried his luck out too, and trust me he was accurate.

As day 3 started, India were expected to score heavily with the kind of batting line-up they have. With Gambhir walking the path to pavilion early, India already looked in distress. Mukund made a fine 49, but wasn’t enough and got out as Broad bowled a full length delivery. And the most awaited person entered and was given a standing ovation by the entire crowd. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, who was the most awaited person in Lord’s at that point of time, a person who has ever scored the century at the Mecca of cricket, ad what an occasion if he would have scored his 100^th international century here in Lord’s. After making an impressive, he started struggling against Tremlett and atlast got an edge against Broad and the anticipation was over. Disappointed, he walked back to the pavilion.

A much hyped Sachin Tendulkar day was however taken over by Rahul Dravid’s sheer temperament. Rahul Dravid took the opportunity and scored a fine century without certainly an almost no-support as even M.S.Dhoni fell for 28 just to follow Laxman and Raina. En route, he even became the 2^nd highest run-getter behind Sachin as he ran past Ponting. The great wall of India again proved why is he called one of the best in business. With India all out for 286 they already had a lead of around 188 runs which showed a clear advantage towards the English side. As the day ended, England were 5/0.

4^th day started and England were on top of the game. A quick wicket of Alastair Cook ad the day looked good for India. A quite partnership and here goes the wicket. An excellent spell by Ishant Sharma and England were already 107/6. But, Matt Prior and Stuart Broad played an excellent part and they just grew stronger. Scoring 103* and 74* respectively, they got England back into the game. Declaring at 269/6, England were back at the top.

India’s innings started and they were back to nowhere. With Gambhir injured because of shot played by Matt Prior which hit him on the upper part of elbow and Sachin Tendulkar ill, India were even more paralyzed. With Mukund’s wicket it looked like India were out of contention and even a draw looked far away from there. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman who had to shift to no.2 and no.3 positions respectively, still hung out in the middle ad saved India from the embarrassment. At 34* and 32* they look to play their parts perfectly to get India on track to win the game. One being the centurion in the previous inning while the other being the second inning man and has been an ultimate savior for India in last few years. If they hang around with Gambhir, Tendulkar to follow if they fit, they have the perfect recipe for a draw if not win.

Ricky Ponting

It was advantage no one as the first day of the opening Test between India and Australia came to an end at Mohali. Both teams had their chances to gain the ascendancy however could not capitalize on their good starts, allowing the opposition to claw back into the game. First, India got the early breakthrough, but were well below par in the field, dropping crucial catches.

Suresh Raina, who was not only electric in the field but also effected the run-out of Ricky Ponting at a vital stage, was the sole exception. The home sides fielding woes allowed Australia to get away, and they looked set to march on to a sizeable first innings total. It did not help that Ishant Sharma, bowled numerous no balls, one of which was a wicket-taking delivery before leaving the field with a knee injury. It was only proficient late burst by Zaheer Khan, who scalped three of the five wickets to fall, that ensured India ended the day on a high.

Australia, on the other hand, would be disappointed at having lost a golden opportunity to begin the series on a high. They may have lost Simon Katich early, but the in-form Shane Watson, in the company of skipper Ponting, had set the perfect platform for the visiting team. Aided by some insipid bowling by the Indians in the morning and afternoon session, the duo made merry. Indians looked down in the dumps when Raina produced an athletic bit of fielding to catch the Australian captain short of his crease. It wasn’t a spectacular effort by Raina’s standards, but stood out on a day when the dropping catches had become the norm. It also sent a strong signal into the opposition camp that there is one man they can’t take lightly on the field, else they would have to pay dearly.

Ponting left the scene fuming and although Zaheer’s needling was far from obligatory, the reactions from both men went on to show how much the dismissal meant to their respective sides. And, as if to prove a point, Australia stuttered towards the close of play from thereon while Indians bowlers tightened their grip and also claimed three more crucial scalps. All this while Watson held one end up rather cautiously as he registered his third century on Indian soil in consecutive innings, following up on his two tons in the practice game.

While Watson played a rather mature hand, keeping himself in check throughout, unlike the flashy batsman he is known to be, it also signified Australia’s quagmire. Not only Watson, but the entire Aussie middle-order adopted this unexpected approach following Ponting’s dismissal. The only difference was that while the opener was successful, the rest got trapped and succumbed to the pressure created by the Indian bowlers in the latter half of the day, unable to execute what was planned.

One of the reasons for Australia’s defensive approach might have been the lack of confidence in the latter batsmen. While Michael Hussey is still very good, his consistency has dropped lately. This aspect was evident at Mohali. Even as he tried his best to fight through, he eventually couldn’t last long enough to make a substantial contribution. And even though Marcus North got a century in the game the other day at Chandigarh, his consistency at the Test level doesn’t make him reliable as yet. It did not help Australia that their vice-captain and someone who has done fantastically well against India in the past, Michael Clarke, also had to endure a rare failure.

As the day drew to a close with runs drying down and a couple wickets going down, the faces of a seething Ponting and an upbeat Zaheer sprung back to mind. If a picture had to tell the story of the day, that was it. The task in front of both teams is rather straightforward in a sense. The Aussies need to keep fighting, albeit with a little bit of positive intent. Remember Watson is still out there and the Australian tail is renowned for producing fortune-changing partnerships. For India, their aim should be to wrap up the Australian innings as soon as possible, more so since they have lost the services of Ishant Sharma. If the batting side keeps them on the field for long, the other three main bowlers will have to shoulder extra burden, which isn’t the ideal situation. Additionally, the bowling needs better support from the other fielders, and not just Raina, who was undoubtedly the star of the day.

India got to number one by beating Sri Lanka. To be at the top of the Test level for long it is vital that all facets of the game are covered be it fielding, bowling or batting. Today, I will be doing a SWOT Analysis of the Indian cricket team which will tell us whether India are a long term number one or whether Australia and South Africa are coming back to take the top post away.

As Ian chapell famously said with India its not India who has taken the top post from Australia. Australia have come down to the level of India after having lost their great players—India haven’t pulled themselves too high.

S-Strengths—
Batting—India’s batting remains a huge plus for them. They seem to un-ending talent when it comes to the batting department. An example to this is how great players like Rahul Dravid and Sourav ganguly have been replaced with such ease at the ODI level. I don’t think any team could have coped with the loss of such great batsmen that easily. After laxman and Tendulkar India seem to have talent in young virat kohli, subramaniam badrinath, rohit Sharma and plenty others.

The batting department seems to be covered. Bowling- India’s only bowling strength seems to be Zaheer khan. He is the only bowler who seems to have done well in the past 18 months. Harbhajan who has been the other permanent feature in the line-up has under-performed which is a major concern for the Indian team.

W-Weaknesses
Bowling-
Harbhajan singh—Bhajji continues to be a worry for India. His performance after anil kumble’s retirement has gone down immensely. He hasn’t assumed the role of the main strike bowler as of yet and is a grave cause of concern for the 6 wise men (Selectors).
India’s lack in bowling depth—VVS Laxman recently mentioned in one of the papers that India doesn’t seem to have that kind of bench strength when it comes to the spin bowling department. Bench strength doesn’t mean the number of players it means the number of quality players. Hence India in spite of having lots of pace bowlers—barely one or two quality ones are to be seen.

Fielding-
India’s fielding is a worry. They have to pounce on to their catches and there is no athletic fielder in the Indian test ranks especially after Yuvraj seems to have given his belly some working. Perhaps that will be sorted once the seniors make way for the youngsters.

O-Opportunities
Bowling-
Since India have one of the longest bowling line up in the world clearly they can convert some of them into good ones. With BCCI (Board of control for cricket in India) being the richest cricket board in the world they can develop a lot of camps not just at state levels but also at the junior level which will help develop bowlers for the future and will stand in good stead for India in the future.

T- Threats
With cash rich leagues like the IPL and champions league coming in young talent could sway towards the money part of the game in order to support their families. Hence, it is vital for the Indian board i.e. the BCCI to take the required actions and prevent this from happening.

Another possible threat could be India could just over rely on their batting strength which would not develop their bowlers. We saw how Irfan Pathan started concentrating on his batting more than his bowling. The same seems to be happening to harbhajan Singh too.

If India indeed want to stay at the top level, especially with Australia slowly but surely coming back to full strength they would have their task cut out. The main challenge for India will come when they will tour South Africa, England and Australia especially without the likes of VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and the master himself Sachin Tendulkar.

Whether or not the young guns would be able to produce the goods under such un-friendly batting conditions is yet to be seen. But, as of now India need to work on their bowling skills. They need Ishant Sharma to get his rhythm back so that he gets his pace back. Once his pace his back to the mid 140’s the nip back in to the batsmen would be more effective. India cannot be too content with Harbhajan Singh. They need to use Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha a lot more in all forms of the game. Only once the pressure is there on harbhajan will he need to perform.

All good teams have wonderful fielding units; although India have a wonderful set of catchers; they need to make sure they need to improve their work in the outfield. However, the most important thing and the fact of the matter still remains that to stay at number one you need to win test matches all around the world and you won’t win test matches without taking 20 wickets too often, in other words you need quality bowlers to win you test matches.

India, on the other hand, did impress in bits and phases. However, overall their performance against the lowly-placed Bangladeshis left a lot to be desired, the final result not withstanding. Still, a series win is a series win and India can take in a number positives as they head into the next challenge – a tough home series against South Africa.

The biggest plus for the visitors from this series was the rhythm-rediscovery of Ishant Sharma. The lanky paced, who seemed to be losing his efficiency in recent times, was nearer to his best against Bangladesh. Okay, so it wasn’t the stiffest opposition and thus one cannot read a lot into it.

But, at least this series will give Ishant the much-needed confident boost. He picked up wickets at regular intervals, and more importantly, was successful in maintaining a proper line and keeping the runs down even when he was not getting wickets.

Though not as important, this series meant a lot to Zaheer Khan too. He hadn’t been at his best in the recent series’ since making a comeback. And, as he himself admitted, he is still to rediscover his best.

Yet, the match-winning spell on what turned out to be the final day at Mirpur was something he desperately needed. The seven-wicket haul in the second innings will be etched in the left-arm seamer’s memory for a while, considering India were struggling to break through at one stage.

Deservedly, he ended up picking up the Man of the Match as well as the Man of the Series awards.

If Ishant and Zaheer were hot, there were some equally disappointing performances among the bowlers as well. Sreesanth, who announced his comeback to Test cricket with a five-wicket haul just recently, looked totally lost.

He sprayed the ball all over to be taken for plenty of runs. To add to the frustration, he bowled plenty of no-balls and to make things worse, ended up pulling a hamstring. Harbhajan Singh remained a disappointment in the one Test he played while both Amit Mishra nor Pragyan Ojha proved potent in the one outing they got, but weren’t eye-catchy in any sense.

But for the failure in the first innings at Chittagong, the batting lived up to the expectations. Gautam Gambhir continued to pile on the runs, though he missed out on a sixth consecutive Test hundred. His opening partner Virender Sehwag did not seem interested in playing the long innings against a weak opposition, but made sure he gave the side a good platform in Gambhir’s company.

All the experienced hands – Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Dhoni – made substantial contributions when needed, Yuvraj Singh remaining the sole disappointment.

All in all, some good practice for India ahead of the South Africa series.

On the first day, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first on a sporting wicket as well as under extreme sunshine, unlike Chittagong where conditions were extremely murky. So, Bangladesh had the opportunity to hit back hard on the Indians and exploit the conditions.

On the other hand, India will be boosted with the return of MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh from injuries. However, a big setback for India is that Laxman won’t be playing after he sustained an injury on his left hand during the first test. Sreesanth too has flown back home due to a thigh strain.

However, the momentum was surely on India’s side when Ishant Sharma continued his good form by getting opener Imrul Kayes out first ball. The following over saw Zaheer Khan pick Tamim Iqbal who went without scoring too, after a near to unplayable in-winger from the left-arm fast bowler. And soon later, Junaid Siddique who replaced Shahriar Nafees in this match, also lost his wicket to Zaheer and the score was pathetic, 13/3! In came Mohd.

Ashraful, who had been criticized prior to this Test for his poor form. He was under a lot of pressure, but took charge and went after the Indian bowling. In between, Raqibul Hasan’s poor form continued as he gave Ishant his second wicket and Dravid taking an easy catch of a lazy drive on the off-side.

In the process, Bangladesh were four down. And worse, Ashraful too lost his patience and looked to play yet another aggressive but risky shot, as a result getting stumped off the bowling of off-spinner Pragyan Ojha, smashing 39 runs off just 31 balls. As the Bangladeshi skipper Shakib-al-Hasan and wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim were batting, lunch was called with Bangladesh in dire straits at 84/5.

After lunch, to a certain extent, Shakib and Rahim resurrected Bangladesh with a vital 50-run partnership until Ishant Sharma bowled a ripper of a ball, in-swinging to get Rahim lbw for a solid 30. Ishant got his third wicket and was on fire when all-rounder Mahmudullah entered the crease.

He batted remarkably well even as Shakib got out playing a rash shot of Zaheer Khan’s bowling. At 127/7, Mahmudullah had to bat out of his skin to assure Bangladesh reaching a competitive total. And to a certain extent, he did help his team do extremely well as he remained unbeaten on 96, just 4 short of a maiden test hundred.

Some resistance from the low order helped Bangladesh reach 233, with Ishant, the star for the Indians, picking up as many as 4 wickets. Still, it was India who had the upper hand due to no time constraints for the Indians for batting and weather too wasn’t expected to be a problem.

As Gambhir and Sehwag walked out, the tension could be cut with a knife. Can India this time around tear apart the Bangladeshi bowling? The batting wasn’t so convincing at Chittagong, so Bangladesh were in with a chance if they get early wickets. However, at stumps on the first day, India were 69/0 in just 12.5 overs with Sehwag in a usual attacking mode.

The start was ideal as Gambhir played well enough to stay in the hunt for bringing up his 6th century in 6 Tests. The man who has averaged close to 77 since 2008 was determined enough to get to Sir Donald Bradman’s record, even as Sehwag was given out of a good delivery by Shahadat Hossain, who ripped apart the Indian batting line up in the first test.

However, Gambhir was undone by a short delivery from the 2-Test old Shaiful Islam, and was caught by wicket-keeper Rahim for 69. Sehwag too got out in similar fashion, thus both the openers were back in the pavilion. Unfortunately, Gambhir missed out on a record hundred, yet added another half-century to his impressive tally of runs in the last two years.

The score was 130/2 when Tendulkar arrived at the crease. And thus came the marathon partnership. Both the batsmen have nearly 25000 runs between each other in test cricket and are the bulwarks of Indian cricket as they have carried the team forward to some famous victories. And today, was yet another day when the two put up a huge 222-run partnership, battering Bangladesh completely.

The Bangladesh attack, for the first time in the series looked toothless as well as hopeless. Dravid, returning to his best scored a cracking nelson, i.e., 111 before he went retired hurt after being hit on his jaw by a short Shaiful Islam delivery. Whereas Sachin Tendulkar registered his second century of the series with an exceptional 143, before some clever bowling on the leg-stump by the Bangladeshi skipper sent him packing.

But when will Tendulkar’s hunger for runs and making records come to an end? He scored his 45th century which was the highlight of the day as he has now gone 6 ahead of Ponting. Surprisingly, he also surpassed Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene by scoring 5 centuries against Bangladesh in test cricket, whereas Jayawardene has scored 4.

Coming back to the match, Dravid’s injury helped Bangladesh to fight their way back into the game as they were able to dismiss a well-set Murali Vijay for just 30. Vijay replaced Laxman for this game and clearly at that stage, Laxman’s experience could have helped. Especially when its known that Laxman and Tendulkar put up big partnerships more often than not. Bangladesh could celebrate with the wicket of Harbhajan Singh on the last ball of the day by the skipper yet again, leaving Dhoni stranded at 22.

Day 3 is expected to be a thriller as Bangladesh cannot breathe easy due to the possibility of Yuvraj Singh joining the Indian captain at the crease. Rahul Dravid too, could come out to bat. What would be interesting at this stage is the timing of Dhoni’s declaration which could give India’s bowlers ample of time to bowl out the Bangladeshis and win comprehensively 2-0. So, its clearly India whos on the drivers seat in the game.

The way the Lankans began, they looked well on course to score over 350. Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga slammed nearly each and every delivery out of sight as the partnership raised 65 in less than seven overs. Once again, the left-arm pace duo of Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra were at the receiving. Ishant Sharma, who took the place of Praveen Kumar in the playing XI, wasn’t spared either. If anything, he was singled out for special treatment by the dynamic opening pair. The Indians once again were let down by their fielding. MS Dhoni’s keeping replacement Dinesh Karthik missed one of the easiest run out chances amidst the run carnage, Dilshan being the beneficiary. Luckily for India and Karthik, the slip-up did not prove too costly as Nehra snapped him up a few runs later, caught by none other than Karthik himself of a short, rising delivery which Dilshan (41) top-edged.

The troubles though were far from over for the Indians. Tharanga continued the good work in the company of skipper Kumar Sangakkara. Mixing caution and aggression perfectly, the two laid a solid foundation for Lanka. The pair had added exactly a hundred when Sangakkara’s charge down the track to his opposite number Virender Sehwag proved fatal. Sangakkara missed the ball and a fumbling Karthik somehow managed to get rid of the bails, giving India some much-needed respite. There was no looking back for India from thereon as they took firm control.

The left-arm spinner Jadeja began his demolition job by cleaning up the well-set Tharanga (73) from one which came back in sharply and breached his defence. Soon, he had Chamara Kapugedera bowled off an inside edge. At the other end, Harbhajan Singh was doing a wonderful job, strangling the runs. He was rewarded for his efforts with the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene. The former skipper fell to a tame dismissal when he lofted a long hop straight into the hands of a floating short mid-on. Sharma, who had a woeful first spell, then came back to dent the Lankans further with a double blow. He had the dangerous Thilina Kandamby bowled and Suraj Randiv caught behind off successive deliveries. Jadeja then continued his good work trapping Nuwan Kulasekara lbw and cleaning bowling Ajantha Mendis as the Lankan innings drew to a close. From 165/1, the visitors miraculously collapsed to 239 all out.

For the Lankans to stay in the game, early wickets were essential. However, a whirlwind start by stand-in skipper Sehwag (44) ensured the nerves were settled in the Indian dressing room. Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh also made useful contributions, but it was Tendulkar who saw India through till the end in the company of Karthik (36*). On most days, such a performance would have been enough to earn Tendulkar the man of the match, but on this day it was undeniably Jadeja whose performance stood out.

There was plenty of pressure on fast bowler Ishant Sharma and medium-pacer Praveen Kumar and Suresh Raina, to some extent, to retain their places. However, impressive showing by the trio at Nagpur meant India are confident of going in with an unchanged squad, at least for the next two matches. Munaf Patel and Sudeep Tyagi continue to remain in the squad as back up for the first-choice pacers.

The third and fourth ODIs will be held in Delhi and Mohali on October 31 and November 2 respectively.

The squad

MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Suresh Raina, Sudeep Tyagi, Yuvraj Singh

More ‘Paine’ for Australia

Meanwhile, Australian wicketkeeper Tim Paine, who has impressed in both the games played against India, is the latest in the injury list for the visiting team. The dashing batsman will miss the remainder of the series due to a broken finger. Paine picked up the injury during Australia’s disastrous 99-run defeat in the second match of the seven-game series at Nagpur.
Paine, who himself was drafted into the Australian side as a replacement for the already injured Brad Haddin, will now be replaced by Graham Manou. He is likely to feature in the third one-dayer to be held New Delhi on Saturday.
Earlier, the Aussies missed the services of pace spearhead Brett Lee and all-rounder James Hopes during the team’s loss at Nagpur. Also missing from the series due to injuries are vice-captain and middle-order batsman Michael Clarke as well as left-arm seamer Nathan Bracken. Owing to the injuries, New South Wales’ Moises Henriques was called in as cover by the Aussie management.

In the bowling department as well India had their heroes. Praveen Kumar made up for his shabby showing at Vadodara by bowling a probing first spell, claiming two wickets. Ishant Sharma showed further signs of improvement by picking up a couple of scalps and bowling economically, whereas part-timer Ravindra Jadeja ended up being the surprise package, bagging three Australian wickets.

On the other hand, the only thing which went right for Ricky Ponting was winning the toss. But, in hindsight, he would dearly have wanted to lose it. Punter’s decision to bowl first on a batting beauty, keeping in mind the dew factor, backfired and that too in a big way. Australia did manage to strike early when Peter Siddle got Sachin Tendulkar to edge one behind the wickets. But what followed was a fascinating and expected counterattack by Virender Sehwag and Gambhir. The Aussies smelt blood when Sehwag fell for 40, going for one of his big hits and Yuvraj Singh’s promising knock was cut short by Ben Hilfenhaus’ excellent reflex catch. That however only turned out to be the beginning of a long struggle for the Australians.

Dhoni and Gambhir joined forces to decimate the already depleted Aussies. Runs flowed with ease on a pitch that figuratively read ‘bowlers’ graveyard’. Pace spearhead Brett Lee was sorely missed and in his absence even the others were less effective. Siddle was by far the best of the bowlers, pitching the ball more often in the block hole than the others. Conversely, Mitchell Johnson’s expensive figures looked slightly better only because of the couple of wickets he picked up in the last over. That too was thanks too some splendid glovework from Tim Paine. Nathan Hauritz kept things tight but went wicketless, while Shane Watson, whom Ponting reposed faith in despite him 20-run over in the last match, was smashed for plenty yet again.

Even so, nothing can be taken away from M S Dhoni, who paced his innings to perfection. Following the unfortunate run-out of Gambhir, he and Raina steadied the innings before going on an all-out attack in the slog overs. Dhoni brought up his hundred launching a six straight down the ground, off a struggling Johnson. At the other end, Raina kept swinging his bat at everything and, luckily for India, there were more hits than misses. Both were eventually dismissed in the final over, but by then India posted a colossal 354/7.

For Australia to get anywhere close, an outstanding start was needed. Praveen ensured it never came. His inswinging deliveries accounted for Paine and Ponting while Ishant sent back Waston with a rising delivery as the Aussies stumbled to 45/3 and the game was all but decided, barring a miracle. Michael Hussey and Cameron White put on a steadying partnership. However, it was far from enough. White fell to Harbhajan for 23 in an attempt to accelerate the scoring. Hussey went on to top score for his side with a patient 53, before he ended up becoming one of Jadeja’s three victims. The left-hander was beaten in flight by the left-arm spinner and clean bowled. Later, Shaun Marsh was stumped by a long distance and Adam Voges fell going for a slog to give Jadeja his best one-day return in his short international career.

It was a thoroughly comprehensive win for the home side and one that should set up the series nicely, with scores level and everything to play for.