Ramesh shadows Sachin-Saqlain contest

NEW DELHI, FEB 6: Sadagoppan Ramesh took a long look at his bat, bent down and then dragged himself from the crease for that agonising tr...

NEW DELHI, FEB 6: Sadagoppan Ramesh took a long look at his bat, bent down and then dragged himself from the crease for that agonising trudge to the dressing room. On his way back to a standing ovation, there was also a comforting pat from skipper Mohammed Azharuddin at the non-striker’s end.

But the 23-year-old from Chennai seemed too stunned to even react as he was left hanging four runs away from a maiden Test century at the Ferozeshah Kotla today. Twisting the knife in further was the feeling that this tragic sequence took place while Ramesh was playing the lead role in what turned out to be India’s brightest day in this two-Test series.

The only consolation, then, for the left-handed opener was the fact that his team-mates chose to appreciate his efforts in the best possible way. By pushing India’s second innings score to 324 for seven with two days to go, they also managed to virtually close out all escape routes for Pakistan in the second Test. The fourth innings target now is 404 and the biggesttotal Pakistan has ever chased before was when they made 315 for nine to beat Australia by one wicket in Karachi nearly five years ago.

Submerged under the euphoria was an interesting side story as Sachin Tendulkar played out the final act of his silent battle with Saqlain Mushtaq in this series. Having been deceived by the off-spinner on all three innings he has played so far, the master batsman opted for a new approach this time. Reminding many of how Sunil Gavaskar would have gone about it, Tendulkar seemed to have planned his innings out as he opted for elaborate defence to start with as Saqlain went on overdrive.

The off-spinner pulled out all the variations while Tendulkar watched, waited and parried them all with the straightest of bats. The crowd started getting restless as Tendulkar was still on zero after playing 25 balls — 21 from Saqlain. Then came a single and more defence. In between, Saqlain managed to rap him on the pads, triggering a loud appeal off a missed a paddle sweep.

Finally,after 31 balls, Tendulkar went on the backfoot and pushed a ball from Saqlain to the mid-wicket fence. That was his first boundary and it came 48 minutes after he had stepped in to bat. The next ball was paddle-swept for another four before Tendulkar eased up a bit.

After lunch, there was a new twist when Tendulkar walked in with a support belt round his waist, indicating that his back injury was acting up. But before he could speed up his battle against Saqlain, Mushtaq Ahmed got him at the other end.

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Saurav Ganguly, Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath ensured that Ramesh’s efforts didn’t go up in smoke after Wasim Akram threatened to change the script with a hat-trick chance.

After getting Azharuddin and Nayan Mongia, Kumble was welcomed by a fast, swinging yorker which would have rattled the best. But, the Bangalore man stunned everyone by digging it out with such timing that the ball screamed past Akram for a four. Akram’s magic spell was broken, and the Indian tail stood up. Even Ganguly stepped out ofthe shell he seemed to have got into, and smashed Saqlain for a six.

Kumble chipped in with another four before Srinath walked in for an eighth-wicket partnership that is yet to be broken. There were authentic shots from Ganguly and Srinath and some comical hit-and-miss stuff from the latter. And the combined result had Pakistan on the floor with their body language turning nasty, at times, and quite negative otherwise.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA (1st innings): 252

PAKISTAN (1st innings): 172

INDIA (2nd innings)

Sadogoppan Ramesh c&b Mushtaq 96 (227b, 291m, 15×4)
(full toss drifted in from off, took leading edge from attempted on-drive)

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VVS Laxman b Akram 8 (16b, 20m, 2×4)
(Cut in sharply, squeezed through bat & pad to pluck out off-stump)

Rahul Dravid c Ijaz b Saqlain 29 (72b, 121m, 2×4)
(miscued sweep from outside off, caught by 1st slip running around keeper Moin)

Sachin Tendulkar c Akram b Mushtaq 29 (65b, 99m, 4×4)
(mistimed on-drive took aerial route tomid on)

Azharuddin b Akram 14 (24b, 52m, 2×4)
(chopped incoming ball from outside off into stumps)

Saurav Ganguly (batting) 58 (119b, 191m, 6×4, 2×6)

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Nayan Mongia lbw Akram 0 (1b, 1m)
(trapped in front of off-stump by a fast ball that swung in late)

Anil Kumble c Ijaz b Saqlain 15 (36b, 37m, 2×4)
(withdrew to leg for forcing shot on off; ended up guiding a straight ball to 1st slip)

Srinath (batting) 44 (103b, 122m, 5×4)

To Bat: Venkatesh Prasad & Harbhajan Singh

Extras (b 13, lb 9, nb 9) 31

Total (for 7 wickets, 109 ovrs, 464m) 324

Fall Of Wickets: 1-15 (Laxman, 4.5 ov); 2-100 (Dravid, 33.1); 3-168 (Tendulkar, 59), 4-183 (Ramesh, 64.3); 5-199 (Azharuddin, 70.1); 6-199 (Mongia, 70.2); 7-231 (Kumble, 79).

Bowling: Akram 19-3-38-3; Waqar 12-2-42-0; Saqlain 44-13-112-2; Mushtaq 26-4-86-2; Afridi 8-1-24-0.

At Lunch: 2-126 in 49 overs

At Tea: 6-220 in 75 overs

Crucial Stands — India 2nd inn

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85 for 2ndwkt (Ramesh & Dravid)
68 for 3rd wkt (Ramesh & Tendulkar)
93* for 8th wkt (Ganguly & Srinath)