Over to Ganguly and his bowlers...

Over to Ganguly and his bowlers...
Bishan Singh Bedi

There were two Laxmans hogging the limelight in today’s dailies one for a noble cause and the other rather notoriously. But we will confine ourselves to V V S this young pedigreed fella from Hyderabad. I like the confidence on his relaxed face. The concentration level, too, is very high, although not very expressive. The best part of the superb Indian fightback was the truest glory of Test cricket. But what impressed me most about Laxman’s application was his complete lack of any visible fatigue. This young man is run-hungry, no doubt. And this particular characteristic happily rubbed off on Rahul Dravid, whose confidence too grew as the partnership advanced.

To be fair to the Aussies, that vital thing called luck was plain and elusive to Steve Waugh’s dangermen Glen McGrath and Gillespie. They were both breathing fire and beat the bat fairly often. But today was destined to belong to ‘VVS’ and the better fortune of Dravid. For once, Indian batsmen displayed exemplary patience, application, discipline and determination to take battle Royal to the enemy’s camp. And what a magnificent spectacle it was for thousands on the ground and millions on the idiot box.

For the first time in the last 17 Tests, the relentless Australian attack was tamed and tamed effectively. And our man ‘VVS’ was entirely responsible for restoring sanity in the Indian dressing room. ‘‘Lead, follow or get out of the way’’ would be an apt way to describe Laxman’s monumental self-confidence. Let us just gladly accept the Australian bowlers were humbled a psychological advantage which needn’t be wasted.

Around tea time Indians were safely out of the woods. So, a fresh mode of thinking was required. The obvious need was to accelerate the scoring rate.But sadly, that bold attempt was not forthcoming. By enforcing the follow-on, Steve Waugh had taken a calculated decision to strangle Indian batting. But that didn’t happen, which was always a possibility. Now, captaincy involves some risk-taking ability in order to come on top of the opposition. The Aussie captain had it in abundance in Mumbai. And no wonder, the Aussies were able to go one-up.

The onus is clearly on Ganguly and his mates to square the series. How they achieve it is to be seen, not kept a secret. Personally, I would hate to imagine Indians would be content with a draw. Towards the end of the day, Australians looked a mighty tired lot. But one man Ponting was able to extract good spin and bounce a sight I am sure that would make Harbhajan pretty much happy with the proceedings. But the moot point is when does Ganguly let himself and his bowlers lose on Steve’s men.

For some, the road to fame runs straight, however narrow, long or steep. Steve Waugh has seen it all. Saurav has yet to do a recce of his destination.I hope the Indian captain realises Indian cricket’s health is resting on his shoulders very precariously.