Australia face a tough task

Unlike batsmen from most other countries, the Indian openers score at regular intervals off the leg-spinner and Laxman showed he wasn8217;t intimidated by Warne8217;s leg stump line. When Warne bowls this line to batsmen from England, South Africa, New Zealand and the West Indies they are pretty well limited to playing the sweep shot if they score at all. But against India, their aggression often forces him to change his line.

Sidhu agreat favourite at Eden Garden and Laxman are a good combination when the spinners are operating. The bearded batsman is harsh on off-spin while Laxman, with his wristy shots in the mould of his captain, is capable of producing boundary shots through the on-side. Playing with intent at all times, this pair cruised past the Eden Gardens record for India.

Nothing that Warne or any of the other Australian bowlers could produce looked like stopping the Indian openers as the boundaries flowed like the Ganges in flood. Nothing that is until Sidhu became a bit anxious nearing the century and hit across a Mark Waugh off-spinner to be lbw three short of his century. As he wandered slowly off the field reflecting on his misfortune, Sidhu received a sympathetic hand from the crowd.

He also had a sympathiser in the commentary box, who knows what it8217;s like to be dismissed just short of a century at Eden Garden. Unfortunately for Laxman who had played so well in establishing himself as a Test opener, he suffered thesame fate. At that stage, the nervous nineties were Australia8217;s best weapon. However, unlike Sidhu, Laxman didn8217;t even receive the compensatory applause because his dismissal brought Sachin Tendulkar to the crease.

The reception from a huge crowd in a carnival mood was deafening, but that effort was surpassed when Tendulkar moved onto the back foot and slapped Gavin Robertson8217;s next delivery through the covers for four.

The other big reaction to Tendulkar8217;s arrival came from Warne. Where he had been a bit sluggish early on, suddenly there was a spring in his step as he walked in to bowl and he rose to the challenge like a true champion. The problem he faced were two batsmen in peak form as Tendulkar was almost matched boundary for boundary by the in-form Rahul Dravid. Both players raced past their fiftys to a roof lifting roar and as the players took drinks, the sign went up on the video replay screen 8220;Shabash India8221;.

There was no bashing about it, but just very good batting. There was just a hint ofa lapse in concentration from Tendulkar after the break in play. After a deft touch for four off Robertson, the little maestro tried to hit the off-spinner over the stand at the High Court end. If Warne had been the bowler, it would8217;ve been a case of Tendulkar trying to hit the googly into the Hooghly.

The boundary flood was only stemmed when Tendulkar holed out off Michael Kasprowicz using the second new ball. With Dravid looking to convert his sixth successive half-century into a three figure score and Azharuddin at crease, the ingredients are there for a lot more runs. Australia will have a tough time saving this Test.