Mohalis great closing ceremony

Not surprisingly,his unbeaten 73 at the PCA Stadium did evoke comparisons with the epic 281 with which he dragged India out of a deep mire nine years ago at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata against the same opposition. But till the final two leg-byes with which India posted their win,there was more drama and certainly many more emotions this time around in Mohali.

And the first Test had reached such a

pitch on Tuesday afternoon that even Laxman managed to lose his customary cool,lashing out at non-striker,No. 11 Pragyan Ojha,for missing out on a single. Seeing the generally laidback Hyderabadi,who batted with a runner throughout his innings,gesticulate wildly at his teammates to finish a risky two was indeed a rare sight; the umpires too seemed to be soaked in by the pressure. Englishman Ian Gould pulled off a howler by giving Ishant Sharma LBW,when the ball was clearly missing the stumps and New Zealander Billy Bowden lost count of the deliveries bowled in a particular over.

Though India had only one wicket left,Australias final throw of the dice actually came about two deliveries before the eventual finish,when Steven Smiths shy at the stumps missed by a whisker and the ball tragically rolled towards the boundary for four overthrows. No wonder then that Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was a gutted man at the end of the day. And Ponting seemed to express the sentiments of everyone in his team,and even a couple of ex-skippers back home,when he spoke about the Laxman-phobia that his team has developed over the years.

This loss is more disappointing than the Eden Test,more because I wasnt the skipper then. I was telling my guys last night that Laxman will make a big contribution and thats exactly what happened. I just hope that his back remains stiff till next week and he wont play in Bangalore. We have tried to analyze him in and out but hes really been a thorn in our flesh, said a visibly agitated Ponting after the match. In 25 matches now,Laxman has scored 2,279 runs at 55.58 against the Australians.

Great victories on sporting fields more often than not involve the protagonists making sacrifices and displaying extreme valour in utter adversity. And what added more fervour to the Indian win was the fact that the victory was actually built by two men,Laxman and Ishant Sharma,who had popped in a lot of painkillers in order to bat despite their respective back and knee injuries.

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