Walking wicket halts hosts march

Had there been a cardiologist amongst the travelling fans,seated together atop the PCA pavilion,this was the moment from him to ask the weak-hearted to look away

Had there been a cardiologist amongst the travelling fans,seated together atop the PCA pavilion,this was the moment from him to ask the weak-hearted to look away. Below them,Phillip Hughes prepared to face his first over of spin,in the fifth over of the innings. Ravichandran Ashwin adjusted his sunglasses and uncoiled his bowling action. Hughes played and missed outside his off-stump. The Indians in the crowd oohed and aahed,plenty of money must have been hedged on the survival of the weakest.

At that point,Ashwin had bowled 60 balls to Hughes this series. The Aussie had scored two runs,lost his wicket thrice and been beaten for a good portion of the 55 other balls. Ashwin danced in again,unfurling a top-skidder outside Hughes8217; off-stump. Already on his backfoot,Hughes used his might to cut it past at point for a boundary. In a Test match that had witnessed several feats that caused one8217;s jaw muscles to weaken,this was its pinnacle. Even as many in the stands rubbed their eyes in disbelief,Hughes stared blankly ahead.

A ray of hope

It filled the hearts of the Aussie supporters,the visitors8217; dressing room and Hughes himself,with hope. Over the next four balls,Hughes middled the ball in defence and poked nervously in alternating succession. Having gotten through the over,Hughes let out a visible sigh. It8217;s anybody8217;s guess what he would have gone through his mind at the non-striker8217;s end,but simple arithmetic could not have been far away. In survival mode,he had missed three out of the five balls in the Ashwin over. But when attempting to score,he had reaped four runs from one ball. This,then,was the time to take the plunge.

Ashwin gave way to Ravindra Jadeja,a fellow collector of Hughes8217; scalps who dismissed the left-hander the first innings,in the 11th over. Jadeja bowled it full and wide of the off-stump,only to be given the charge. Using his feet to get to the ball,the left-hander dumped it between rows seven and eight of the stand beyond midwicket. Spin phobia,it seemed,had a self-medicative treatment.

Over the course of the remaining few overs,a positive Hughes punched Ashwin for another four off his backfoot and lived a few cat lives when he streaked one over the slips for his fifth boundary of the day versus spin to bring up his maiden fifty of the tour. And all along,he negated Bhuvneshwar Kumar8217;s swing better than anyone else,stroking five boundaries off his bowling thats five boundaries more than anyone.

If Australia are to save this Test,then for once,their batters will do well to follow Hughes8217; lead. But more importantly,Monday8217;s Hughes will have to remember what Sunday8217;s Hughes did.