India open the door, Tendulkar at the wheel

At Lord’s it was India hoping for divine intervention to save the match. At Trent Bridge, given the second day’s play, England might be seeking the same.

At Lord’s it was India hoping for divine intervention to save the match. At Trent Bridge, given the second day’s play, England might be seeking the same.

After an impressive effort today morning to restrict England to a mere 198 runs, India got exactly the start they were looking for when openers Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Kaarthick came up with well-made half-centuries. The dismal failure of the top order in the first Test had left nagging doubts over whether the Indian batting had been in its elements or not. The Jaffer-Kaarthick duo and an important 147-run opening stand, nevertheless, laid those worries to rest.

At stumps, India were 254 for the loss of three wickets.

While the openers failed to convert their excellent efforts into a century or more, they managed to give the bigger names in the middle-order an excellent platform from where they could flourish. Later, what took place at the Trent Bridge cricket ground in the afternoon was easily among India’s best moments ever since that disastrous return from the World Cup in the West Indies.

Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar found themselves batting on a wicket that had eased off after the early morning inconvenience. Tendulkar strode into the 11,000-run bracket in style while scoring his 43rd half-century and showing fine form that suggested there’s more in the waiting.

It was Dravid’s innings, nevertheless, that India can raise a toast to. Until he got out to an absolutely outstanding catch by Ian Bell in the covers off Monty Panesar’s bowling, the skipper showed glimpses of what makes him the most dangerous number three batsman in the world. Panesar couldn’t find turn and got spanked by Dravid, who either cut him late of drove him with élan.

James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom, England’s heroes at Lord’s, underwent a similar treatment. It was also the first time in Test cricket — when Tendulkar and Dravid were batting — that there were two stalwarts with a total of 20,000 runs to their credit at the crease. The last time a pair that came close to this colossal figure was when Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh were batting together, in 2004, with 18,000 runs between them.

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Dravid left just at a time when he was trying to make sure the opponents took notice of his return to form. His departure, however, did not make a difference to the way Tendulkar was batting. He has been criticised for his non-performance at Lord’s, with former greats like Kapil Dev suggesting that he cannot play match-winning innings.

Today, Tendulkar looked more comfortable than ever, even as Anderson and Tremlett tried hard, bowling short as much as possible. Tendulkar ducked, the ball once hitting his head-gear, but refused to be drawn into any kind of aggression. He was joined by Sourav Ganguly for the fourth wicket, and the two saw the day end without any further damage. Bad light stopped play with six overs to go.

Overall, it was a brilliant day of Test cricket and probably for India the best in a long time.

England 1st innings

A Strauss c Tendulkar b Khan 4

A Cook lbw b Ganguly 43

M Vaughan c Tendulkar b Khan 9

K Pietersen lbw b Singh 13

P Collingwood b Sreesanth 28

Ian Bell lbw b Khan 31

M Prior c Dravid b Kumble 11

C Tremlett b Kumble 20

R Sidebottom not out 18

M Panesar c Laxman b Khan 1