Test 1 @ Bangalore – Views and Reviews

The 1st test has ended in a draw, but not without much excitement and the usual analysis. The Aussies held the upper-hand for most of the game. But their scoring was unusually slow and, as predicted their bowling lacked necessary experience and guile to take 20 wickets. The Indians were on the backfoot after a big first innings from the Aussies, but a spirited performance with the bat from Harbhajan and Zaheer saved the blushes. Some points to review:

Ponting and Hussey scored centuries. Ricky Ponting finally broke the Indian shackles with an attacking hundred on the first day. He has been a fantastic performer across the world, but his technique, esp defensive, against quality spin on turning wickets, is still suspect. With Harbhajan and Ishant constantly on the prowl, run making will continue to be difficult for the Aussie captain thru this series. Mike Hussey, on the other hand, has looked extremely confident and will probably be the biggest thorn for the Indian bowlers over the remaining matches as well. His performance will be a key factor in this series.

The Indian batting collapse in the 1st innings gave a real scare to all supporters, but some tough lower order resistance minimized the 1st innings deficit to just 70, and also consumed valuable time, a big factor that came into play as India were saving the test on the last day. With their bowling attack, this was probably Australia’s best chance to win a test here. Harbhajan and Zaheer have a big job to play with the ball, but their batting contribution will prove invaluable in the context of this series.

Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma were the bright lights of the Indian bowling. Their spirit and control was tremendous to watch. Zaheer’s reverse swing and Ishant’s slower deliveries were hugely successful. Before the series commenced, Kumble and Harbhajan were tipped to run through the Aussie batting, but the new ball pair shone above all and present a lot of hope for the future. Kumble and Harbhajan however largely disappointed. There isn’t much to say about their performance, except for a charged-up spell by Harbhajan on the 4th afternoon, when he had the better of Katich and Hussey.

I witnessed a most intriguing 4th day of the test match at the Chinnaswamy. It started with Zaheer and co. holding fort for an hour. Zaheer then trapped Hayden with a late inswinger, and Ishant fooled his bunny Ponting into chipping a slower one to Laxman at short mid wicket. Before the series Ponting had professed that batsmen should take the fielder’s word on doubtful catches. I might be mistaken, but it felt as though Ponting was not convinced with Laxman’s claim to the catch and waited more than necessary to walk off. Sorry Mr. Ponting – you should first practice what you preach. And this is why, despite his great batting and captaincy records, he will never be respected as a great sportsman.

Anil Kumble came in for a great deal of criticism thru this test match. His bowling was supposed to be a decisive factor in this series, but was merely innocuous and the Aussies were very comfortable in dealing with him. It later emerged that he was playing with an injured shoulder. Whether his injury was diagnosed before the match is unknown, but the fact is that he returned with the worst bowling figures of his test match career, and that too on his home ground.

Kumble’s captaincy was equally toothless and lacked any creativity or imagination. His bowling changes were very predictable, with the pacers being used for standard 7-8 over spells, then being rotated as per a plan that seemed to be put together in the dressing room, with very little on-field proactiveness and tactical moves.

On the 4th day, while Kumble couldn’t take the field for 22 overs, Dhoni handled the mantle of captaincy. This was perhaps India’s most aggressive phase of the entire match. Field placements were unorthodox and very effective, the pacers were charged up and did not give any chance to the batsmen to set the pace. Harbhajan followed with a spell of utmost control, taking the wickets of Katich and Hussey. The Aussies were in a spot of bother at 128/5. That might have been a glimmer of a chance for India to actually bowl out Australia and push for a win.

Unfortunately Harbhajan and Kumble could not keep up the pressure. Inexplicably, Harbhajan bowled (and continued to bowl) a leg stump line, and allowed Haddin and Watson to pick him off for singles on the leg side. A more aggressive and positive tactic should have been to bowl into the rough outside the right-handers’ off stump, challenging them into driving the ball. Driving on that wicket would have been an impossible task, and with any luck, we might have seen the Aussies bowled out on day 4 for 170-180, leaving India with about 250 to win on the final day – that would have been some climax.

Overall, this was an intriguing test match, and has set up an exciting series. Australia, controlled most of the game, but could not pull off a win. This was probably their best chance, but they have given enough indication that they are not to be counted off. For India, the darkest spot was the captaincy of Anil Kumble. But every dark cloud has a silver lining. MS Dhoni, in his brief period of leadership, proved that he is ready to take up the job full-time. We might have seen the last of Anil Kumble.