CRICKET:IF A single delivery can be said to sum up the deep malaise into which Indian cricket has sunk over the few weeks of this tour, it came shortly after six o'clock yesterday evening as India began the mammoth task of attempting to score the 486 runs they needed even to avoid an innings defeat after England had amassed a record 710 for seven, the fourth highest first innings differential created by the side batting second.
With Gautam Gambhir taking three runs from Jimmy Anderson’s opening ball of the innings, Virender Sehwag faced the second. In the first innings, he had tried to withdraw his bat from a Stuart Broad lifter and got a faint glove to the wicketkeeper. That was unfortunate, before the equation had been laid out over the following three days by the England bowlers and Alastair Cook.
This was different, for here was a chance to save some face. Anderson’s second ball climbed outside off stump and could have been waved by, but this is Sehwag. He swished flatfootedly, edged and a jubilant Andrew Strauss took the catch at first slip.
Sehwag slunk back to the dressing-room, having collected not just the first king pair of his career but only the 13th in all 2002 Test matches.
It was dismal cricket, a disgrace actually, from a player of his quality. No doubt it will be predicated on Sehwag being Sehwag and “this is how he plays”. Not good enough. Not nearly good enough.
By the close, an over early because of bad light, Gambhir and Rahul Dravid had reduced the deficit by 35 without further loss.
As the England team left the field, they held back to allow the remarkable Cook to lead them in, for his innings was a monument to dogged application. Only Len Hutton of England batsmen, in the course of making his 364 at The Oval in 1938, has spent more time at the crease than Cook’s 12 hours and 47 minutes, and that by only half an hour and in a timeless Test.
All day he had inched his way towards the triple century until deep into the final session, he was within reach of only the sixth triple scored for England, and the first since his mentor Graham Gooch’s own against the same country at Lord’s 21 years ago.
It was not to be. When he required only six more runs he launched an uncharacteristic flay at a wide length ball from Ishant Sharma, and found the hands of Suresh Raina at deep backward point after making 294.
There had already been a second Test century for Dubliner Eoin Morgan and together the pair added 222 for the fourth wicket before Morgan drove to extra cover.
There was an inevitability then that Ravi Bopara would find it all too much and, on a hiding to nothing, he was lbw to the leg-spinner Amit Mishra.
Matt Prior surrendered himself in much the same selfless manner before Cook and Tim Bresnan, who was to remain unbeaten on 53 commenced the lower order humiliation that has seen the England bottom five batsmen average almost twice as many runs per head this series as the Indian top seven.
India first innings 224 (MS Dhoni 77; S. Broad 4-53, T Bresnan 4-62)
ENGLAND FIRST INNINGS
(Overnight 456-3)
A Strauss b Mishra 87
A Cook c Raina b Sharma 294
I Bell b Kumar 34
K Pietersen lbw b Kumar 63
E Morgan c Sehwag b Raina 104
R Bopara lbw b Mishra 7
M Prior c Tendulkar b Mishra 5
T Bresnan not out 53
Extras (lb 34, b 11, nb 15, w 3) 63
Total (7 wkts dec, 188.1 ovs) 710
Fall of wickets: 1-186, 2-252, 3-374, 4-596, 5-605, 6-613, 7-710.
Did not bat: S Broad, G Swann, J Anderson. Bowling: P Kumar 40-13-98-2 (1w), Sreesanth 36-4-158-0 (4nb), I Sharma 37.1-7-159-1 (2w), A Mishra 43-2-150-3 (9nb), S Raina 28-1-83-1.
INDIA SECOND INNINGS
G Gambhir not out 14
V Sehwag c Strauss b Anderson 0
R Dravid not out 18
Extras (lb 1, w 2) 3
Total (for one wicket, 12 ovs) 35
Fall of wicket: 1-3.
Bowling: J Anderson 5-1-18-1, S Broad 2-0-7-0 (2w), T Bresnan 3-0-4-0, G Swann 1-0-4-0, K Pietersen 1-0-1-0.
