Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Happy Start For India
Indians must have been baffled by the New Year present they received from the curator at Cape Town. A flat track with low bounce that would put Delhi or Mumbai to shame! A bowling attack that looked quite ordinary because of the pitch and the absence of Andre Nel allowed India to put on a reasonably good score that might have already saved the test for it.
Dhoni’s injured fingers did not permit India to make more than one change in the team for the third test. Came Karthik in Dhoni’s place and the intended sacking of one of the openers did not come into effect. Instead India asked Sehwag to come lower in the order and brought in a totally unexpected change at the top. Upsetting the expectations of many, Dravid held himself back and inserted Karthik into the second opener’s slot.
Not much scope there for discussion as this Jaffer-Karthik duo helped India to put up India’s highest opening partnership against South Africa. Karthik and Jaffer in fact put on 153 runs before Karthik was sent back by a rather dubious decision. His half century exposed the weaknesses of the Springboks on such placid pitches. By that time Jaffer had got closer to his third hundred mark. From this point, Jaffer, Dravid and Tendulkar ensured India a comfortable position by draw of stumps. At close of play India had reached 250+ for the loss of the openers and Dravid.
This pitch with puffs of dust coming out whenever the ball hit certain spots even on the first day doesn’t allow you to think in terms of a South African victory. India also may be deprived of a win by the batting-friendliness of this track. To get twenty wickets might prove to be an uphill task for the Indian attack. But the ball has started to turn even on the first day. That and the dark signs of turn and bounce, must have a bearing on the result of the match as the hosts have to bat last. The fifth day at Newlands, if the signs hold good, may make Kumble look like a demon. If that happens, an Indian win can not be ruled out.
If Indians can comfortably come forward and block the ball down on this pitch where seam moment is a precious and thus a rare commodity, the South African batsmen can with equal efficiency pile up a big score in the first innings, robbing India of the required time to have a go at the rivals a second time.
A good decision with a lot of commonsense and devoid of any panic has with the help of toss has put India in a strong position for the first time in this series on the first day of a test. A reasonable level of discipline on the bowlers’ part would keep the situation interesting. A significant change of gears by the Indian batsmen on the second day also could things more difficult for the hosts.
Tags: Jaffer's century, India in strong position
