Others should emulate Ramesh’s spirit to save Test

Slater’s departure immediately slowed Australia’s progress and when Agarkar deceived Justin Langer with a well-directed bouncer, Steve Waugh declared his hand by promoting Adam Gilchrist.

At the same time, India tipped their hand. The over rate wasslowed to a crawl, obviously with the hope that on an overcast day the light would deteriorate to the point where some overs would be lost. Slowing the over rates should never be allowed as a viable tactic in the game of cricket and this should be uppermost in the minds of the law makers.

I have long advocated that reasonable over rates are necessary if the balance between bat and ball is to be maintained. The way to ensure decent over rates are maintained, is to suspend any offending captain for two Test matches. It will undoubtedly cause a huge outcry the first time it occurs, but it will send a strong message to the players that the administrators are serious about over rates and you can bet it won’t happen a second time.

India’s tactics indicated a lack of faith in the bowlers’ ability to dismiss Australia cheaply and it had the effect of relaxing the batsmen and freeing their stroke play. Gilchrist is not one to miss an opportunity and he waded into the bowling, with the confidence of a player whodoesn’t believe he can fail and the skill of a top order batsman.

Gilchrist has added extra dimension to the Australian line-up and Steve Waugh is more than happy to fully utilise the keeper’s skills. Gilchrist’s onslaught picked up the scoring rate and allowed Steve Waugh to set a challenging declaration, but not before he lost an enthralling personal battle with the extremely competitive Agarkar.

Agarkar had the better of his on-going duel with Steve Waugh, bouncing him regularly and then confronting the Australian skipper when he wanted to have a verbal joust. Agarkar had the last laugh when he trapped Waugh on the crease and plumb in front. It’s amazing how the wheel turns; a decade or so earlier it was a young Steve Waugh challenging Viv Richards with a series of short-pitched deliveries. Steve Waugh chose the right moment to declare, just as his brother Mark cracked a glorious square cut boundary to boost his confidence and reach the half-century. Often, by giving the opposition the option ofwinning it creates a dilemma and makes them feel more uncomfortable than knowing they only need to play out time for a draw.

After a few fast and furious overs from Lee it was obvious that India’s only realistic hope is a draw and they will have to bat well to achieve that satisfying result. However, Sadagopan Ramesh showed a lot of character as he took a pummelling from Lee, but refused to be protected by his partner Rahul Dravid in the final over. Ramesh might be lacking the footwork to combat Lee’s well-directed short-pitched deliveries, but no one could fault the high price he put on his wicket. That is the sort of spirit that all the Indian batsmen will require to save this match and live to fight another battle in Sydney.