Tendulkar ton only succour for India

For the Australians, each Test throws up a new star and today it was the turn of Brett Lee to show that all the pre-match hype built around him was justified. The Lee thunderbolts on a wicket which by no means produced fearsome bounce and pace had the Indian batsmen behave like cats on a hot tin roof.

In this ungainly exhibition of uncertain footwork, nervous proddings outside the off stump and attack of nerves, stood Tendulkar’s rock-solid innings, shorn of all frills.

Among the 22 Test hundreds which Tendulkar has hit now, this one should rank very high — not for the quality of his strokeplay which may not have compared favourably with his very best — but for the cold-blooded manner in which he planned and paced his innings.

He had entered the MCG arena, with India as usual in a state of panic, having lost both its openers with only 11 runs on the board. The axing of Devang Gandhi and the elevation of VVS Laxman made no difference to the team’s fortunes.

The unexpected slide in Rahul Dravid’s form, this time falling to an uncharacteristic cut outside the off stump too early in his innings, had made India’s task of saving the follow-on look very difficult. That figure was 206 as the Australians managed to score 405, despite losing Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting straightaway in the morning.

The runs came from a ninth-wicket partnership of 59. Despite the frustrating delay in wrapping up the Australian innings, Indians could have drawn solace from the the fact that the wicket was easy enough for even tail-enders — Lee and Fleming — to make runs.

Brett Lee arrived on the scene five overs late. He was not given the new ball with Glenn McGrath to bowl. He made an immediate impression. His fourth ball in Test cricket hit the stumps via Sadagopan Ramesh’s bat which came down late to meet the ball. That man must be very quick!

Laxman, always eager to play his shots, not the best thing for an opener to do, drove McGrath far away from his body and the inevitable result was the ball flying into the slips. Dravid’s exit a few runs later, set the stage for Tendulkar to play an innings full of intense concentration, peppered with vintage strokes. McGrath’s off stump line was once again testing, but Tendulkar was watching the ball leave his hand and then following it to the wicketkeeper’s hands.

Shane Warne was given the ball very early. Tendulkar, after a period of watchful defence, stepped out and struck the ball over the long off fence. The six and much more against the master leg spinner, meant round two to the Indian maestro.

Like in Adelaide, here too, Saurav Ganguly stepped into a crisis and without any fuss eased the tension with positive play. The left-hander has looked the most secure Indian batsman after Tendulkar, but at the same time has not been able to keep his concentration going for longer periods. It was his wicket, poking needlessly outside the off stump without moving his feet to McGrath which set in another round of crisis, this time serious enough for Australia to be in a position to force India bat again.

The debutant Hrishikesh Kanitkar, trying to fill the most contentious spot in Indian cricket today — the number 6 — started well and was playing neatly when followed another of those controversial decisions which has marred this series.

This time it was a shocker. Kanitkar stretched fully forward and took Warne’s ball spinning onto his pads. Not only was the batsman well forward, he was struck outside the line of the off stump and the turning ball would probably have missed the sixth stump as well. But not in the opinion of Steve Davis. Up went his finger.

In the morning McGrath was given run out when the bails had got dislodged before Kanitkar’s throw hit the stumps. Umpire David Shepherd can say, in his defence, that he had not noticed the dislodged bail. In the age of TV replays even the best of umpires one day might dread standing in the middle.

India still needed 67 runs to avoid the folow-on. MSK Prasad stuck on for a while and promised much before perishing to a Lee storm. It was a storm which signalled the real arrival of a pace demon. Prasad failed to get his bat in line with a swinging full toss. Stumps shattered. Ajit Agarkar was struck on the toe in front of the stumps on the first ball he faced. The MCG crowd in the past must have been used to chanting Lillee, Lillee. Today it was shortened to Lee, Lee…

The hat-trick was avoided but Srinath perished in the same over, gloving a short ball into slips. 38 runs still needed for follow-on to be avoided and Tendulkar in real danger of running out of partners.

Anil Kumble played the bravest innings of his career, ducking and weaving well against Lee and finally Tendulkar achieved what he was trying to do. He went on to make his century and set out farming the attack, playing strokes where ever he wanted to.

Whether it was an attack of cramps to his left arm or plain simple tiredness, Tendulkar could not last the day which was the longest for most playing in this Test. Play had started half an hour early and ended one-and-a-half hours late to make up for the lost time. When it was time for Tendulkar to leave, he literally dragged himself away from the wicket and his trudge back to the pavilion made for a poignant movement. The man wanted to bat longer. India will need him to do that in the second innings, if they have to save this Test.

SCOREBOARD :

Australia (1st innings; overnight):

G Blewett b Srinath (8b, 10m) 2

(played on a short ball)

J. Langer lbw Srinath (28b, 37m, 1×4) 8

(beaten by incoming movement)

M. Slater c Srinath b V Prasad (179b, 269m, 10×4) 91

(hooking a short ball)

M. Waugh lbw Agarkar (110b, 120m, 1×4) 41

(beaten by a sharp incutter)

S. Waugh c MSK Prasad b V. Prasad (68b, 108m, 3×4) 32

(attempting to cut a moving ball)

R. Ponting lbw Srinath (85b, 167m, 5×4) 67

(beaten by the angle)

A. Gilchrist c Ganguly b Agarkar (119b, 150m, 12×4) 78

(pullling a short ball to short mid-wicket)

S. Warne c MSK Prasad b Agarkar (6b, 12m) 2

(gliding the ball down the leg side)

D. Fleming not out (59b, 89m, 1×4) 31

B. Lee c and b Srinath (55b, 77m) 27

(mistiming a slower delivery)

G. McGrath run out (6b, 5m) 1

(beaten by Kanitkar’s throw)

Extras: (b1, lb9, w1, nb14) 25

Total: (in 526m, 118.1 overs) 405

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Blewett), 2-28 (Langer), 3-123 (M.Waugh), 4-192 (Slater), 5-197 (S. Waugh), 6-341 (Gilchrist), 7-343 (Ponting), 8-345 (Warne), 9-404 (Lee)

Bowling: Srinath 33.1-7-130-4; Agarkar 28-7-76-3; V Prasad 26-6-101-2; Ganguly 2-0-10-0; Kumble 29-3-78-0

India (1st innings)

VVS Laxman c M. Waugh b McGrath (18b, 30m) 5

(driving at a away going ball, caught in slip)

S. Ramesh b Lee (21b, 24m) 4

(beaten by an incoming ball, playing on)

R. Dravid c Gilchrist b Lee (36b, 55m, 1×4) 9

(attempting to cut a short widish ball)

S. Tendulkar c Langer b Fleming (191b, 283m, 9×4, 1×6) 116

(hook to long leg)

S Ganguly c M Waugh b McGrath (83b, 112m, 1×4) 31

(pushing out side the off stump, edges to slip)

H. Kanitkar lbw Warne (21b, 31m) 11

(Pads up full stretched outside the off stump, ball turning in)

MSK Prasd b Lee (16b, 32m, 1×4) 6

(Plays across a swinging fulltoss)

A. Agarkar lbw B. Lee (1b, 1m) 0

(hit on the toe by a yorker)

J. Srinath c M. Waugh b Lee (4b, 2m) 1

(gloves a short ball)

A. Kumble batting (57b, 72m, 1×4) 26

V. Prasad batting (14b, 24m) 10

Extras: (lb8, nb8) 16

Total (for 9 wkts off 75 overs) 235

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Ramesh), 2-11 (Laxman), 3-31 (Dravid), 4-108 (Ganguly), 5-138 (Kanitkar), 6-167 (MSK Prasad), 7-167 (Agarkar), 8-167 (Srinath), 9-212 (Tendulkar)

Bowling: McGrath 18-3-39-2; Fleming 15-0-62-1; Lee 17-2-44-5; Warne 24-5-77-1; Waugh 1-0-5-0.