A Test match at Chennai between Australia and India. A wonderful, wonderful advertisement for Test cricket.

So, what's new? The novelty is that the previous Tests played by these two sides in the pressure-cooker that is the M.A. Chidambaram stadium went right down to the wire. The matches played in 1997-98 and 2000-01 produced conclusive results. The one in 1986-87 did not, but then, the outcome of that game was more sensational than a dozen Test wins put together.

The second Test of the 2004-05 series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy remained unfinished, but for four fascinating days, it twisted and turned, ebbed and flowed. It was cricket at its best, and hardest, physically as well as mentally. There was brilliance, and there was mediocrity. There was joy, and there was despair. So compelling was this cricketing exhibition that even Mother Nature felt like joining in, and did so with a vengeance on the scheduled fifth day!

When Hayden and Langer got their team off to a rollicking start on the first day, Indian supporters feared the worst, but they were brought right back into the match by their greatest match-winner ever. Anil Kumble truly personifies the Hindi proverb 'Ghar ki Murgi Daal Barabar'. India's second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket has never got the credit he deserves for bowling India to many a famous victory in the past decade-and-a-half, having fallen prey to the Indian penchant for undervaluing its riches. His 13 wickets at Chennai should open the eyes of many people, and remind them of another proverb; "Better late than never".

The Indian response to Australia's modest 235 was tepid, to say the least. Of course, the typhoon also known as Virender Sehwag, was a glorious exception. His 155 was a gem, and the manner in which he took on Shane Warne a sheer delight to watch. It brought back memories of the assault on Warne by Sehwag's role model in 1997-98 at the same venue. When things looked bleak for the hosts after his dismissal, Patel and comeback-man (to Test cricket, that is) Kaif stood up to be counted. Kaif fought a heroic battle with the oppressive heat and humidity, and helped his team attain a significant lead.

Then came the twist. India's lead of 141, rated a 'winning' one by many, was knocked off, and the Kangaroos regained the driver's seat. At the forefront of the recovery were Damien Martyn, who carved out a stupendous hundred in trying conditions, and Jason Gillespie, an unlikely batting hero, who stayed and frustrated. Then came the turnaround for India, engineered by first Harbhajan and then Kumble, and 229 seemed a gettable target for India with more than a day to spare. Sehwag's start on the fourth evening sent Indian hopes soaring, and even Yuvraj Singh's obvious discomfiture against Glenn McGrath couldn't dampen the spirits of the home team's supporters. But the downpour dampened spirits all right.

Memorable cricket is not all about great batting and bowling. It is also about 'consistent' umpiring, as was displayed by Messrs David Shepherd and Rudy Koertzen. It is also about the flops. In a strange, ironic way, great games of cricket are remembered as much for the misses as for the hits. After all, the humans who play the sport are equally adept at embarrassing as they are at enthralling. The fielding was shoddy, with a fair number of catches being missed by both sides. India's main culprit was of course, the wicketkeeper, who had a disastrous game behind the stumps, although he did well in front of them. Parthiv Patel has been retained in the team for the third Test, which starts in eight day's time, and he would do well to return to the basics and spend as much time as possible with Kiran More, the current Chairman of Selectors, who kept for India with distinction from 1986 to 1993.

Thank You Gentlemen!!!

No reference to Patel would be complete without a mention of the man who backed him vocally and aggressively in front of an unforgiving media after play had been called off on the final day. Sourav Ganguly has had more successful matches as captain, but this game, despite its 'unfinished' status, will always rank among his best for his tactical brilliance. His 'in-out' fields in the first innings - four men on the boundary and four others around the bat - frustrated the Aussies by drying up the boundaries, and induced them to attack and perish to Kumble. In the second innings, when Martyn and Gillespie put down the shutters and tried to bat India out of the match, he ensured that spirits did not flag. Whenever the going seemed particularly tough, he was never late in reassuring his boys and encouraging them. His faith, of course, paid off.

Almost every player whom Ganguly has backed since he became captain of India four years ago, has gone on to do himself and his team proud. Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Mohammed Kaif, Virender Sehwag...the list is endless. For the sake of Indian cricket, one hopes that Patel will join this elite club in the last two Tests of the series.

India now have to win both Tests, or atleast one (and draw the other) to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Their performance at Chennai showed that the Bangalore disaster is a thing of the past. The Australians on the other hand, will continue to come at them hard. It would be safe to conclude that they would have been as disappointed with the abrupt ending as their opponents. 'Pessimism' has been an alien term for them, and the first thing they would have said to themselves after the abandonment would surely have been, "We were denied the opportunity to take ten wickets and go 2-0 up in the series."

The cricketing feast that these two teams have specialized in dishing out over the past three years is far from finished. Another Test like the one at Chennai, and people might well be provoked into asking the question that had haunted Test cricket in the dark, draw-ridden days of the 70s and 80s, albeit with a variation; "Is one-day cricket dying?" Make no mistake, Test cricket is in the pink of health. If you don't believe me, ask all those who had the privilege of watching this humdinger at Chennai. Never mind the stalemate, brought about by Mother Nature who probably did not want to see a loser! Thank You, Ganguly, Gilchrist and co!

The End, courtesy Mother Nature.