A Very Very Special Test
2nd Test Eden Gardens
After being crushed at Mumbai, not many had given India much of a chance in the
2nd Test, which was to be played at the Eden Gardens. Except for Tendulkar, none
of the other batsmen were scoring runs and without Anil Kumble, even the spin
department looked vulnerable. As a result, Australia held all the aces in the
series and there was also talk of a 3-0 clean sweep by the visitors. After
dominating visiting teams for so long, India seemed to be losing their winning
streak even in home conditions. Only a year back, South Africa had that rather
infamous tour to this country and beat India 2-0 in the Test series where the
home team was playing under the leadership of Sachin Tendulkar.
Having said all this, Kolkatta was the home ground of skipper Ganguly and he had
the full backing of the crowd who flocked the stadium in large numbers as
expected in the anticipation that their hero and his teammates would pull of
something special. And the Indians did not let down the home crowd. After being
made to follow on, India staged a comeback that would go down in the annals of
cricketing history as one of the greatest ever. Chasing Australia's mammoth
total of 445, the Indian batsmen continued to fall like ninepins in their first
innings. Even Sachin Tendulkar could not stem the flow this time round. Only a
strokeful half-century from VVS Laxman provided some entertainment to the
otherwise disappointed Indian contingent. But his brief sojourn at the crease
was far from enough to save India from following on. With three days left, Steve
Waugh's 'Final Frontier' seemed like a mere formality.
India, for a change, got off to a decent start in
the second innings with Ramesh and Das showing some
defiance. But Warne got rid of the left-handed
opener and in walked the first-innings
half-centurion VVS Laxman. Laxman's dominance of
Warne during his short stint in the first essay was
enough for Ganguly to promote him up the order
instead of the regular no.3 Rahul Dravid. The ploy
proved to be effective as Laxman continued from
where he left of in the first innings. Some of the
shots he exhibited against the legendary leg spinner
are something that one can describe only as VVS
Laxman specials. He went down the pitch to Warne and
played him with ease even hitting across the line
when the ball was pitching and turning from the
rough- a skill very few batmen in the world can
posses especially against the best leggie in the
world. Laxman went on to score his second Test
century, the first one also coming against
Australia. His 167 at Sydney where India lost by a
comfortable margin is still etched in the memories
of cricket lovers for the sheer genius of the
innings. But despite Laxman's century, India was
still very much on the back foot at Eden Gardens. In
fact a leading daily even carried the headline
'Laxman's century delays the inevitable'.
Come day four and all that was to change. Dravid had joined Laxman just before
close of play on day three after Ganguly fell for a fighting 48. Dravid's form
against Australia wasn't the greatest. He had a forgettable tour Down Under a
year back and in the first Test too he struggled to get the ball away. He did
score a few runs but never looked comfortable at the crease. If India had to
entertain any hopes of saving the game, it was essential for Dravid to come up
with a big score. At the other end, VVS Laxman batted like he would never get
out. And the tall Hyderabadi's form seemed to inspire Dravid too. Soon he too
was charging down the wicket and getting boundaries at will of Shane Warne. The
duo went to lunch unseperated continuing with their attacking but good
cricketing strokes and then even at tea the two were together. In the course of
this epic knock, Laxman eclipsed the great Sunil Gavaskar's record for the
highest individual Test score by an Indian (later overtaken by Virender Sehwag).
At the end of the day's play, VVS Laxman was still at the crease with 275 to his
name. And to give him company, there was Rahul Dravid still holding fort at 155.
India batted out the entire day without losing a single wicket and all of a
sudden, there were talks of an upset Indian victory.
Before VVS Laxman, another young Indian bowler also got his name into the record
books. A young off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who made his debut during
Australia's previous tour in '98, became the first Indian to take a hat-trick in
Test cricket. Now known as the 'Turbanator', Bhajji first had Ponting lbw as the
Aussie played back to an incoming delivery and was trapped right in front. Next
in line was the hero of the 1st Test Adam Gilchrist. Gilly also went on the back
foot and was rapped on the pads. With the two big guns gone, it was the turn of
Shane Warne to face the music-the world's best leg spinner facing an up coming
off spinner. Warne placed the bat in front of his pad and the ball flew to
forward short leg only for Ramesh to snaffle a brilliant one handed catch. While
all this was going on, at the other end Steve Waugh was watching the proceedings
helplessly. But 'Tugga' nullified the effect of the hat-track on the Australian
total to a big extent by coming up with another of his fighting knocks. Waugh
went on to compile a century in the company of Gillespie who contributed a
precious 46 and Mcgrath who made a quickfire 21.
Going into the last day, the match had seen some great performances from both
sides. Bhajji's hat-trick, Waugh's century and above all Laxman's extra special
knock. Ganguly declared on the last day after India amassed a 650 plus score.
There were only two results possible now- a win for India or a draw. The
possibility of the latter seemed more likely as many believed India had batted
on a bit too long. And when Australia went to lunch with both openers still at
the crease, it improved Australia's chances tremendously. The post lunch session
to follow had to be a great one for India if they wanted to level the series.
And Harbhajan Singh did exactly that. Building on the confidence he gained from
the first innings success, the sardar ran through the Aussie top and middle
order to plunder them into deep trouble. Harbhajan picked up six wickets to go
with his seven in the first as India inched closer to a historic victory. It
would have been only the third occasion in the 124-year-old history of Test
cricket that a team would have lost after enforcing the follow on if India
achieved this feat. But the great fighters that they are, the Aussies weren't
going to give up so easily. The last pair of Mcgrath and Kasporwicz battled it
out till the very end. It took the guile if Sachin Tendulkar to put the curtains
down on a great Test match. Mcgrath padded up to a delivery from Tendulkar only
to see the umpire's dreaded finger raised.