While batsmen relished playing on the placid SSC track, it was a nightmare for the Indian bowlers. And the dropped catches just added to their woes. New ball bowlers Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan had their moments at the start of the day when the wicket had some life, and later in fading light when they got the second new ball in their hands. It was only a magic ball by Ishant that saw Jayawardene finally play his first false shot of the day. The perfectly pitched ball moved away late to induce an edge to Karthik, who could finally afford to smile. If not for that ball, India would have been in deeper trouble with the mood Jayawardene looked to be in.

A hard’s day toil

Considering the track and the missed catches, it wouldn’t be fair to pass judgement on the Indian bowlers, though. Spinners Kumble and Harbhajan had a hard day’s toil. The offie looked threatening when he looped the ball and it was one such delivery that got rid of Warnapura, the batsman edging to Dravid to slips where he took his second catch of the game. With no bounce on the wicket, Kumble banked on turn to get wickets, but the dropped catches saw him lose heart. As a last resort, Kumble threw the ball to part-time bowlers Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag, but they too were without their golden arms today.

Looking skywards

After such a day on field there will be voices that suggest that the Indians missed a trick by not going in with five bowlers. But looking at the track, it seems even that wouldn’t have worked. This isn’t questioning India’s bench strength, but they don’t quite have bowlers like Muttiah Muralitharan or Chaminda Vaas in the squad. If Jayawardene has cracked the code to score runs at the SSC, Murali and Vaas too have pleasant memories of this ground. Chances of the Indians looking skywards praying for rains in the coming days are bright.