Between India and win, stands a wall: vintage Lara

At tea, West Indies on 221 for four, it was still that handshake away, but one thing was sure. If anyone would hit the headlines tomorrow, it would be the oldest player on this series, and its greatest batsman, too.

With an imperious wave of the bat, Brian Lara ensured that despite the three Indian centuries before his, it would be his 120 that would be the toast of the second Test. Swatting aside everything the Indians threw at him, riding on huge waves of luck to keep his team afloat, Lara ensured that St Lucia will be remembered for what he did out there today. Just consider this: 126 Tests, 11,422 runs and 32 hundreds at an average of 52.9.

Stung by barbs aimed at his poor India record, his fading second innings numbers, Lara took his time to shift gears. But once that was done, about an hour into lunch, there were no full stops. Two booming cover drives off Munaf Patel and a crashing square drive on his toes off Irfan Pathan came a few overs after he had shredded Sehwag through the off-side for two fours. The engine was purring, and the cloudy Indian faces in the field gave the first hint of what may have flashed on your TV screens by now. Of course, Lara’s classic may not have won him this Test, like that stunning 153 against Australia in Bridgetown in 1999. But this would surely get some space on the top drawer.

And yet, it was not the perfect start for the West Indian captain. With the weight of 330 more runs on his shoulders, forced to swallow the humiliation of following on, Lara was barely there this morning, prodding, pushing, a quick flash of the bat, one close lbw shout off Irfan Pathan, two freak cuts to fine leg off Kumble. It was clear that he wanted to stay, the five and-a-half-hour 100 said so.

Then, there was that crab-like Shivnarine Chanderpaul, clawing his way forward, inch by gritty inch, watching his captain hit the right stride at the other end. And by the time the two had put on 129 runs for the fourth wicket, before Chanderpaul (54) mis-hit a full toss to Pathan at mid-on, the West Indies had begun to wall themselves in.

There’s still some time to go here, and two Tests to come, but with Lara playing see-saw with the Indians, it is time for Dravid’s brainstrust to start hunting for clues to crack open this series. Strangely enough, the trail may take them away from the field, straight into the Indian dressing room, and probably stop at the feet of two players who may have stopped Antigua and St Lucia from spilling into extra-time.

Harbhajan Singh pulled up short here due to a stiff groin, but Ramesh Powar was fit—and both were available for the first Test. VRV Singh? With Kumble and Sehwag having taken 19 of the 33 West Indian wickets to fall in this series so far till evening on the fifth day, and Singh just two, the answer is obvious.