da luck： The saving grace of defeat is that it invariably brings lessons
Indian View by Sambit Bal in Bangalore23-Jun-2005
Australia came prepared for this challenge, having learnt from their mistakes of the past, and India must do the same© Getty Images
The saving grace of defeat is that it invariably brings lessons. India haven’t merely lost a Test inBangalore; they have been crushed by opponents whohave been a few steps ahead of them. Australians havebatted smarter, bowled smarter and set smarter fields.There is little use in finding comfort from the memoryof a similar defeat in Mumbai in 2001 – badly beatenin the first Test, India went on to win the series 2-1- because miracles wouldn’t be miracles if theyrepeated themselves.India must remember Kolkata and Chennai to givethemselves hope, but it will be futile andself-defeating to hope for an extraordinary event toconjure itself up and turn the series around. Australiahave paid India a huge compliment by changing theirgame for this series and India have been caughtnapping.The difference beween Mumbai 2001 and Bangalore 2004is stark: Australia won in Mumbai by playing their traditionalgame; they swept, they set aggressive fields and theywere 99 for five in the first innings before AdamGilchrist chanced his arm around to bail them out. Anda chance dismissal – Sachin Tendulkar’s full bloodedpull against Shane Warne ricocheted of Justin Langerat forward short leg and Ricky Ponting brought off amagical catch, sprinting nearly 25 yards and divingfull-length to pluck the ball inches off the ground -gave Australia the decisive advantage when Indiabatted second. John Buchanan later admitted that histeam’s biggest failure in 2001 was not seeing thewarning signals in Mumbai.This time Australia have left nothing to chance. Theywill not call for champagne and cigar before sealingoff a win. Buchanan was quick to remind journalists atlast evening’s press conference that Australia stillhad four wickets to take. India must know now thatthis is not an Australian side that will not defeatitself. Unlike in the past, this is not a team that istoo proud to defend, either with bat or in the field.India have only three days to come up with a revisedgameplan.With a hundred more runs in the first innings, theresult of this game could have been different. TheAustralian wickets in the second innings did not fallin the pursuit of quick runs. Apart from that ofMichael Kasprowicz, each of them was claimed byguileful bowling on a wicket that had begun to wear.Harbhajan Singh bowled poorly in the first innings,but throughout the second innings, he was masterful.He tied down Simon Katich and Michael Clarke andreduced Damien Maryn to strokelessness. India can’t bank onwinning the toss, but they must have noticed thatGlenn McGrath is a much lesser menace after his firstfour overs; somehow, they need to play him out.Sourav Ganguly has been a wonderful captain for theyoung players. But he has done poor Aakash Chopra nofavours. It is no secret that Gangly prefers attackingplayers, but what could have happened without Chopra’sstonewalling in Australia is evident now. India have awonderful middle order, but it needs protection.Indian batting has come unhinged in two out oftheir last three Tests, and on each occasion, themiddle order has failed to survive the loss of earlywickets. Chopra lost his place to Yuvraj Singh in thelast Test of India’s tour to Pakistan, and ever since,Ganguly has let no opportunity pass to let the worldknow that Yuvraj was his first choice to partnerVirender Sehwag. India were spared a selectionconundrum with Sachin Tendulkar missing this Test, butChopra must feel like a man with a time bomb aroundhis neck and he has batted like one. Chopra has toknow where he stands.
Irfan Pathan: batted the longest for India, and scored the most runs© Getty Images
Top-order Test batsmen don’t stick their bat outsidethe off stump like tailenders, and on the evidenceof his performance in this Test, Yuvraj Singh has someway to go. The Indian team could become a closedsociety if the team management refuses to look beyondthe chosen few. Sridharan Sriram has had a wonderfulcouple of seasons, he scored a wonderful hundredagainst a full Indian bowling attack in apractice match, and he should be seen as an option.Apart from Harbhajan’s bowling, the most hearteningfeature for India from this match was Irfan Pathan’sbatting. He looks more impressive with every match and inthe post-match media conference, Gilchrist describedPathan as mature beyond his years, and Ganguly said that heconsidered him an allrounder. Apart from the strokesthat he can play, the most striking feature of hisbatting is the way he gets behind the line of the balland the way he leaves them outside his off stump. Thismorning he batted out 38 ballswithout scoring a run when Dravid was protecting himfrom Shane Warne, and after Dravid departed, he wasquick to use his feet against Warne to clout him for acouple of fours and six. If you add up both innings, he battedthe longest for India in this match and scored the mostruns.The other good news for India is that Warne, despitegetting VVS Laxman in both innings, seldom lookedthreatening. So if India can keep apace with Australiafor the first two days in Chennai, the series might still beopen.Wisden Asia Cricket