“Tomorrow, with the overnight rest, we can get to the Indians pretty early, then into the lower middle order and tail. Hopefully, we will have a substantial lead. You never know, the pitch might deteriorate in the next 24 hours and the game could get very exciting.”IN shorts and the West Indian version of chappals, Brian Lara did not quite fit the role of a soothsayer. But about 16 hours later, there was young Sreesanth walking out during the lunch break, with gloves, cap and one pad, ready to knock himself into shape for his batting stint that was soon to come.For, in the session before VVS Laxman raised both his hands in the air, twice, to celebrate his Lone Ranger 100, four top-order wickets had fallen in two and-a-half hours, three in the space of six balls from 22-year-old Jamaican pacer Jerome Taylor. And Lara’s team had ensured that the Indians would go to Jamaica embarrassed and livid, if not 0-1 down.Embarrassed, because the tumble of wickets on the fourth day meant that they had their backs to the wall — 362 all out, 219 runs behind, over a day to go — even if Lara saved them the humiliation of a follow-on, preferring to let his tired three-man attack get some rest.And livid, because they may like to believe that a different umpire had come into play midway through the Test. How else can you explain South African Brian Jerling’s transformation overnight, after stubbing out at least 12 shouts from the Indians that should have deserved a serious second look, going by at least two of his decisions today?Agreed, Rahul Dravid was lbw on a normal day but with the incoming ball hitting his front pad slightly outside the off-stump, Jerling could so easily have pulled out the same yardstick he had applied on the first and second days — for those eight appeals from Kumble, one from Munaf Patel and at least two from Virender Sehwag.Then there was Mohammed Kaif — yes, it looked like that ball would have hit a stump, the imaginary one step next to leg. That was 159 for five, from 150 for two overnight, Yuvraj Singh gone in between driving another nail into his chances for the next Test.The MS Dhoni decision could once again have gone either way, with the ball going towards, and maybe, outside legstump. A valuable 61-run partnership cut down, Dhoni having curbed his basic instincts admirably over 118 balls, India 220 for six.Which brings us to the only sunny spot in the Indian landscape today, and a very, very special one, too. Keeping to himself for most of this tour, taking the odd evening out with Anil Kumble, Laxman also had to shrug off speculation that he may be dropped for this Test. Add that to his angst over being shut out of the World Cup and those two Tests against England early this year, and you realise what he was up against.Team India’s backs to the wall, Laxman’s 230-ball century didn’t come with his usual dose of attacking strokeplay — with a follow-on target of 381, you wouldn’t have wanted him to bat like that, anyway. But there were brief flashes of that world-famous wrist-play and timing — a short-arm pull off Taylor last evening, a classy straight drive this morning, a sublime flick off Dwayne Bravo, and a square drive later on, and another after lunch off the same bowler that had even Lara clapping his hands at first slip.Laxman’s last century had come seven months ago against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad, though there was a 90 in between in Faisalabad. It was also, believe it or not, only the 10th century in the 31-year-old’s 76-Test career — a gentle reminder of where he should have been by now with the right kind of force behind him, especially after that magic moment of 2001.
