Ganguly146;s back in charge

It is the type of leadership which Team India8217;s coach John Wright obviously approves of. As the granite-faced former New Zealand opening batsman knows, the value of quality leadership is in making intuitive and bold decisions. What partly helped was a Rawalpindi surface that at times is seriously up an down.

The pity here is that while bowlers failed to retain a disciplined line and length 8212; or as efficient as is needed in such conditions 8212; Ganguly knew what result he wanted before lunch on day one of the crucial deciding Test in the historic series. After that the rest should fall into place. It is easy enough to look at such gameplans and see where they went wrong and why.

Yet the erratic bounce of the pitch enabled Ganguly to maintain pressure throughout Pakistan8217;s first innings total of 224. Pitch conditions and clever manipulation of the 7/2 field is ideal in such circumstances to maintain pressure and lure batsmen who should know better into making elementary errors.

Pressure in the right areas, attacking field placings and working out the flaws in the Pakistan batting psyche not only added to self-doubt in their battle plan but also showed how they lacked confidence in their ability to put big runs on the board. How this was shown up in the partnership of 87 between Mohammad Sami and Fazal-e-Akbar illustrated how brittle can be the awareness of even top batsmen.

Surfaces with difficult bounce on day one inhibit not only a competitive flow of exchanges between batsmen and bowlers, they lessen the game as a spectacle and creativity in improvisation and general strokeplay. Examination of the West Indies and England scorecards of recent Test played in Trinidad and Barbados are a great example of pitches doing too much.

If this is Pakistan8217;s idea of creating a pitch to an even contest, they need to think again. As it is, groundsman Andy Atkinson earned a dubious reputation in England and South Africa for some of the pitches he produced during his time with Wright8217;s old county, Derbyshire as well as the Wanderers in Johannesburg and later SuperSport Park Centurion.

It seems habits, like the Tiger, don8217;t change their stripes all too easily. Gambling on winning the toss is far too risky. The surface at the Rawalpindi Stadium was just a little too juicy and allowed for more sideways movement that expected. The way Balaji bowled at times on day one, along with Nehra and Irfan, was remarkable for control and length. There was some impressive swing and seam back off the pitch as well. It undid Inzamam completely after he escaping being trapped in front the previous ball.

If the bowling and the lateral movement was able to do that to Inzi, what would be going through the minds of those batting around him? Yet, if Sami and Akbar, who is a genuine rookie, can with sensible basic technique hold up Team India8217;s efforts to get rid of Pakistan for under 150, what was wrong earlier?

The answer lies in Ganguly8217;s reading of the situation. He has been around the oval a few times since taking over as captain and put his knowledge and his understanding of his bowlers to great use. The conundrum now is whether the pitch settles down or continues to play its erratic tricks. Don8217;t gaze too deeply into the crystal ball just yet, it is a game where the bowlers are still on top.