Inept, indisciplined and irresponsible

A word of praise is absolutely essential for Irfan and Balaji. Both of them bowled their hearts out in the first session. Irfan has just come into international cricket and within no time is spearheading the attack. He can swing the ball both ways and has a good yorker. More than that, he is accurate. His most dangerous ball is the one that is pitched right on the wicket and comes in to the right hander after pitching.

What one can say about Balaji? I never thought that he would improve by leaps and bounds in such a short time. He looked a novice just a few months back. Now he looks menacing with both swings including the reverse swing along with a good bouncer. His best delivery is the one that straightens after pitching and moves just a little bit outside the off stump to take the edge of the bat.

But their brave effort went down the drain. Like in the first Test, Anil Kumble failed to come their rescue. The resolute and sensible batting of newcomer Asif Kamal and Shoaib Akhtar ensured that they got a lead of 202 runs to put pressure on the Indian batting line-up.

And we, of course, batted as ineptly and irresponsibly as in the first innings and showed little or no inclination to take the fight to the Pakistanis.

The Pakistanis delivered blow after blow to the disbelief of the supporters who thought there would be a great fightback from our great batting line-up. It was Shoaib who started the rot by removing Chopra in no time. Our stand-in captain proved he could do a great imitation of his Pakistani counterpart. The wicket was crucial because he is the one person who can stay on the wicket for a long period and graft his runs slowly and steadily. Another jolt was that of Sachin, who again succumbed to his old weakness: a well-pitched delivery from Sami coming in sharply. VVS Laxman and Yuvraj went without trying too hard either.