The Hindu : Sport : Pakistan benefits from shoddy Indian bowling

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Tuesday, Dec 11, 2007
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Pakistan benefits from shoddy Indian bowling

S. Dinakar

Needs 58 more to avoid follow-on

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

JOYOUS MOMENT: Ishant Sharma is ecstatic after claiming the wicket of Faisal Iqbal.

Bangalore: India should have bowled better on a pitch where the batsmen had to cope with varying bounce. The last delivery of the day — the ball hugged the pitch and missed off-stump by the proverbial whisker — left bowler Yuvraj Singh in agony and told a tale.

On a surface which offered more to the bowlers on the third day, the host conceded 70 extras. This is the most by India in any Test innings and Pakistan still has five wickets left.

Wayward

That ’keeper Dinesh Karthik conceded 31 byes reflects on the inconsistency in the Indian attack. Apart from the low bounce, he was hard-pressed to stop deliveries darting around on either side.

The specialist Indian bowlers did not bowl stump-to-stump — with subtle movement, spin and changes in length — which is the primary requirement on a surface of this nature. Only Sourav Ganguly managed this and picked up a wicket with the finest delivery of the day — the ball left the left-handed Salman Butt from the off-stump and secured the edge.

Pakistan cashed in. The visitor was 369 for five at stumps on Monday in the third IndianOil Test at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. The in-form Misbah-ul-Haq (54 batting, 162b, 8x4) and Kamran Akmal (32 batting, 57b, 7x4) promise to score the 58 runs that Pakistan needs to avoid follow-on.

Providing room

In a situation where strangulation was the answer — choking the flow of runs like the Australians do — the batsmen were provided width. The sixth wicket pair has added an unbeaten 81 runs in 125 balls.

Pakistan was lucky when Misbah (on 1) was not adjudged caught behind off Harbhajan Singh but the Indians could have made their own luck had they adhered to the basics.

The two key wickets that the Indians claimed on the day stemmed from errors. Captain Younis Khan attempted to reverse sweep Harbhajan and soon started the trek back. Accomplished batsman Mohammad Yousuf chased a delivery wide and angling away from left-arm paceman Irfan Pathan. Perhaps, Yousuf was undone by a verbal duel with Anil Kumble.

A series victory against Pakistan here is more or less assured, however, India would have to lift its bowling if it has to seriously challenge Australia. Here, India could seldom maintain pressure from both ends. The catching too was not as sharp as it should have been. Butt was put down at short-leg by Gautam Gambhir off Harbhajan.

There were glimpses of ability from Ishant Sharma but the young paceman ran into no-balling problems and lacked consistency. On the positive side, he displayed the ability to take the ball away from the left-hander and bring it into the right-hander. Faisal Iqbal was picked up at short-leg. With his action more balanced, Pathan is generating greater speed. The left-armer was unlucky not to have claimed Butt leg-before in the morning, but tended to pitch short and wide as the day progressed. He should have brought the ball more into the right-hander.

Strange tactics

The fizz was lacking in Kumble’s bowling and Harbhajan’s approach seemed confused. The off-spinner bowled round the wicket to the right-handed pair of Misbah and Akmal, with two short-legs and a short mid-wicket in place. Though the field placing was attacking, this essentially is a defensive ploy. Aiming at the rough created by the right-arm paceman is not likely to help an off-spinner.

Before committing hara-kiri, Younis (80, 156b, 12x4) showed great fluency on the off-side. Later in the day, Misbah found the gaps between third man and cover. Misbah has opened up his stance slightly to provide himself more room to manoeuvre the ball on the off-side.

And Akmal is a quick-think, quick-footed batsman. He drives, sweeps and cuts and can disrupt the length of a bowler. If the intention is to win the series 2-0, India has to tighten up its bowling.

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