Late risers to sleep peacefully

Winning the toss was probably Ganguly8217;s biggest contribution today for his team. On a track which was a bit on the slower side but yet beautiful for batting, all India had to do was bat once and bat big.

Openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag got to a 50-run partnership inside the first hour. In Gambhir, Sehwag has found an able ally to take on the opposition bowlers. Runs flow at both ends and force the opposition captain into a defensive shell from the onset.

If Gambhir can convert his starts into big hundreds, India will be well served over the next few seasons.

Common sense prevailed this morning when India opted for Harbhajan Singh but it skipped the Pakistan dressing room when they opted for left-arm pacer Mohammad Khalil ahead of off-spinner Arshad Khan.

With most of the grass shaved off the wicket on the eve of the Test, spinners immediately came into play. India were prepared for it, Pakistan were not.

Leggie Danesh Kaneria was introduced into the attack in only the tenth over after Mohammad Sami and Khalil wasted the new ball, bowling way too short for the batsmen to be in any sort of discomfort.

Kaneria8217;s early success further confirmed the tactical blunder Pakistan had made by not picking Arshad Khan. With Shahid Afridi also in the side as the third spinner, the Pakistan bowling would have had more depth and variety.

More evidence to support that theory lies in the fact that, apart from the Razzaq double strike, spinners took the remaining four wickets to fall today. The ball swung briefly but it won8217;t be a factor as the Test progresses.

The first maiden of the innings came in the 23rd over, an illustration of the way the batsmen dominated the Pakistan bowling this morning.

And a major part of the blame for that should fall in Sami8217;s lap. He has been the biggest disappointment of the series so far. As spearhead he should be leading the way but among the medium pacers he has been the most indisciplined and uninspiring.

He also forgot an important rule surrounding the Indian team. There is one man other than Laxman you never bowl to on the leg: Dravid. Sami did, as did Khalil, and both suffered.

After dominating the first two sessions of play, scoring briskly at almost four an over, India let it slip in the third.

With Inzamam off the field due to dehydration, his deputy Younis Khan set attacking fields and with Afridi in the playing eleven, the team was never short on aggression. The result was four wickets in the final session that might decide the course of the match.

Sachin Tendulkar got a huge landmark out of the way this afternoon, scoring his 10,000th run in Test cricket but his innings was cut short at 52 when it seemed another hundred was in the offing. With Sehwag out before he got another deserved hundred and Ganguly not in the best of form, Tendulkar8217;s wicket was crucial.

It was a cruel way for one of Rahul Dravid8217;s better hundreds to end. All through the day he was in control of the situation, batting fluently and enjoying his rhythm. In the last over he snicked one to the keeper to tilt the balance of the game Pakistan8217;s way.

At the press conference later, Dravid was to admit that the team needed another 90-100 run partnership to put the pressure back on Pakistan.

It is now up to Dinesh Kaarthick, who is looking increasingly fluent in his strokeplay, to bat with the tail and ensure that India end up with at least 450 on the board.

Pakistan bat way down the order. Kamran Akmal8217;s match-winning century at number eight in Mohali is a grim reminder of their batting depth.

If Pakistan can wrap up the tail before lunch tomorrow, they will have a great chance to take a 100-150 run first innings lead and set up what will be an interesting game.

THE DAY IN A MINUTE

FIRST SESSION
O-30, R-126, W-1
Virender Sehwag smashes a ball on middle and leg from Abdul Razzaq to the mid-wicket fence to reach his fifty. Sehwag takes lunch at healthy 64, but without his partner Gambhir for company

SECOND SESSION
O-30, R-99, W-1
In the first nine overs after the break Sehwag is gone out to what is best described as a sucker-ball from Afridi. Sachin Tendulkar walks into a all-round cheer

THIRD SESSION
O-28.1, R-119, W-4
Typical last session at Eden beckons. Tendulkar reaches 10,000th Test run, he then falls to Afridi and thereafter a mini-collpase ensues giving Pakistan something to cheer about at the end of the day

Prime Number
3.86 It seemed to be a day when lessons learnt were put into practice. One of the biggest indicators was the rate at which India scored their runs during the whole day8217;s play. Quite a shift from the staid approach at Mohali all thanks to the tone set for the day by Sehwag

Spell Check
Afridi 038; Razzaq
O-3.1, M-0, R-20, W-3
This was the spell from both Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi that broke the back of India8217;s batting. First Tendulkar edges a widish ball from Afridi. Three overs later Ganguly does not move his feet as he too wafted at a widish delivery from Razzaq. Very next ball Laxman is gone out for first ball duck, ends being trapped by a ball that swings in. All the advantage of the first five hours is tossed away.