Indian batting squirms to Saqlain8217;s sorcery again

New Delhi, Feb 4: In a dramatic goodwill gesture, minutes before the second Test between India and Pakistan here today, Prime Minister At...

New Delhi, Feb 4: In a dramatic goodwill gesture, minutes before the second Test between India and Pakistan here today, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi stepped onto the Ferozeshah Kotla ground for a group photograph with the teams. It is just as well that the VVIPS didn8217;t choose to drive down in the evening for their PR act. The Pakistanis might have obliged them with huge smiles, but the picture would have been spoiled by all those sullen Indian faces in between.

For, after having won a crucial toss on a benign wicket, the Indian batting line-up lost their way quite foolishly in the end and stumbled to 247 for eight by close on the first day. And, no one can blame the openers this time. Both Ramesh and Laxman fulfilled their part of the job quite admirably on a pitch which gave nothing to Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. And, the four wickets that were given away in the last eight overs was a direct fall-out of the uncertain manner in which the middle order wentabout their task for most of the afternoon.

Buried under the rubble were those 13 minutes Sachin Tendulkar spent under the sun after a thick air of suspense hung over the ground today morning over his back injury. Even as Tendulkar was seen struggling a bit during the customary pre-match excercise routine there was a buzz that the master bat had been rested for the match. As it turned out, Tendulkar did play; but only after some hectic behind-the-scenes consultation with the think-tank and the powers-that-be.

What we should be asking here is wasn8217;t Tendulkar better off taking rest when we need him for bigger battles ahead? He is a human being after all and has been playing international cricket round the clock for the last 10 years. Now, who will take the responsibility if his injury flares up during this match or later, when we need him most during the World Cup?Anyway, there seemed to be an distinct element of tentativeness in his batting as was beaten a couple of times, turned Waqar for a boundary andthen fell while going for a paddle sweep all in 11 balls.

The beneficiary was the wily Saqlain Mushtaq who worked hard for most the day probing his rivals with customary guile to find the rewards coming in a rush when he, probably, least expected it. At the other end, leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed came up with the other crucial wicket of Mohammed Azharuddin, just when the Indian captain seemed to have come up with a perfect reply to all those who booed him in Chennai last week.

With the surface suiting his predominantly front-foot style, Azhar squeezed out the gaps for seven smooth fours, smashed a six to midwicket off Mushtaq and was the dominant partner in the two barely decent stands of the day 69 for the fourth wicket with Rahul Dravid and 40 for the fifth with Saurav Ganguly.

Dravid and Ganguly, then, were the let-downs of the day as they opted for elaborate caution on a wicket which demanded an early domination of the rival attack. Dravid8217;s effort of 35 was spread over two-and a half-hours whileGanguly spent over an hour for his 13. The bowling was tight but not all that dangerous and there was never an eager attempt to steal the singles to keep the board ticking over.

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The ghosts of Chennai seemed to have returned again with only Ramesh making a visible effort to exorcise them.

Scoreboard

India 1st innings

Sadagopan Ramesh b Saqlain 119b, 178m, 7215;4 60
Venkata Sai Laxman b Akram 84b, 126m, 5215;4 35
Rahul Dravid lbw Saqlain 111b, 139m, 4215;4 33
Sachin Tendulkar lbw Saqlain 11b, 13m, 1215;4 6
Mohd Azharuddin c Ijaz b Mushtaq 134b, 160m, 7215;4, 1215;6 67
Nayan Mongia batting 22b, 32m 9
Anil Kumble c Youhanna b Saqlain 9b, 8m 0
Javagal Srinath lbw Saqlain 8b, 9m 0
To bat: Harbhajan Singh, Venkatesh Prasad
Extras: b 11, lb 7, nb 6 24
Total: 8 wkts, 89.5 overs, 376m 247
Fall of wickets: 1-88 Laxman, 28.4 ov; 2-113 Ramesh, 41.3; 3-122 Tendulkar, 44; 4-191 Dravid, 61.3; 5-231 Ganguly, 82.2; 6-240 Azhar, 84.5; 7-243 Kumble. 87.3; 8-247Srinath, 89.5.
Bowling: Akram 12-3-20-1; Waqar 13-5-37-0; Mushtaq 26-5-64-2, Saqlain 34.5-8-94-5, Afridi 4-1-14-0.