It was one of those few days in Indian cricket when everything went right. The batsmen played well, the wicketkeepers batted well and the tail wagged. All of India’s 11 batsmen got into double figures as India put on a massive first innings score of 664. The icing on the cake was an English scalp before the end of the second day’s play of the final NPower Test at the Oval.
The surprise package of the Indian batting was none other than Anil Kumble who scored his first Test century in 118 matches. Kumble, not exactly famous for his batting, scored an unbeaten 110 which included 16 fours and a six and was the highest scorer in the Indian team. He could very well turn out to be the only Indian centurion in this 3-match Test series!
In the first half of the day, VVS Laxman stepped up a gear to pile a fast 51whereas Sachin Tendulkar preferred to take it slow and steady to make a stuttering 82. Mahendra Singh Dhoni played well for his 92. Kumble was ably supported by Zaheer Khan and RP Singh who both got out for 11 each but more importantly hung in there to allow Kumble to score his runs. And last but not the least, the ever charismatic S.Sreesanth scored a faster than run-a-ball 35 with 6 fours and a six.
This tremendous effort by the Indians snuffed out almost any hope the English had of winning the match. It got even worse for them as they lost the wicket of Andrew Strauss who got out hooking Zaheer Khan to third man. They were lucky not to be 2 down before stumps when the umpire gave night-watchman James Anderson not out when he was caught pad-bat plumb in front of the stumps on a Sreesanth delivery and ended the day at 24 for 1. The game is India’s to win and only an excruciatingly bad performance by them could see the result go any other way.
However, it sounds a bit odd but is worth praising, in all honesty. Outstanding strokes played by kumble have made me as silent as the grave. Really, a bowler playing so nice shots with great confidence were worth watching… however, all the players played satisfactorily, especially Dravid n Ganguly, but Kumble’s unconventional play is certainly a live example for the team India’s below par batting lineup.
