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Fortuitous century No. 40 for Tendulkar

S. Ram Mahesh

Despite late wickets India finishes day one marginally ahead of Australia

Virender Sehwag gets India off to a flying start
Vijay showed composure and technical ability

— Photo: S. Subramanium

IMPORTANT KNOCK: Sachin Tendulkar once again came up with a crucial innings to deny the Australians a foothold on day one of the final Test in Nagpur.

Nagpur: Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman, who to Australia are both serial tormentors and respected opponents, batted through a critical period, adding 146 for the fourth wicket and building on Virender Sehwag’s frenetic 69-ball 66, as India was poised to make capital of an important toss.

But Ricky Ponting’s touring side scrapped back. Despite being decidedly generous in the field here at the new VCA Stadium, Australia extracted Laxman (64) and terminated Tendulkar’s skilful but fortuitous 40th Test century (109, 188b, 12x4) to keep alive thoughts of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

India, leading the series 1-0, finished day one of the decisive fourth Test marginally ahead on 311 for five from 87 abysmally slowly bowled overs.

Frenetic start

Thursday’s first session tripped along feverishly fast. Sehwag, who’s never far from the scene when there’s buccaneering craziness afoot, was the instigator.

He mightn’t have had his great mate Gautam Gambhir, out serving a one-Test ban; but in M. Vijay, Sehwag found a capable replacement.

The 24-year-old Vijay chewed a nervous wad of gum as Sehwag took first strike, but over the next hour and a half showed he could hang with the big boys.

He made just 33; the manner of its making, however, showed composure and technical ability not always evident in debutant openers — particularly those who are forced to step up so suddenly.

The conditions held few challenges first-up: the table-flat strip wasn’t altering the direction of the ball even if pitched on the seam, and a hot, dry day without breeze isn’t germane to swing.

Nevertheless Vijay — who hasn’t consistently encountered bowlers of the pace of Brett Lee and Johnson, even if their accuracy wasn’t first-rate — saw off the shine.

With a stable stance, side-on but not closed to the on-side, bat aloft, the Tamil Nadu opener took Australia’s attack.

To Vijay’s advantage, he looks correct — important for a nation that still frowns on unorthodoxy.

Unfussy footwork

In defence and attack off the back-foot, his elbow rises high. His footwork is unfussy, and barring a tendency to open bat face and slice behind point, feet beside the line, he plays the percentages.

Sehwag meanwhile was a blur of activity: jerking his head away from bouncers, slapping and cutting, carving and steering, flicking and wrap-around pulling, the bat-speed blinding, the manner restless.

He greeted Jason Krejza, who replaced Stuart Clark in the eleven, by hitting him straight before swinging the off-spinner into the sparsely peopled stands. Sehwag also ran well with Vijay.

But having raced to 98 without loss in the 18th over, India briefly lost its way.

Vijay was lifted off his feet by a cramping, rising short delivery from Watson, the edge grabbed by Brad Haddin behind the wicket.

The profligate Krejza, who was turning it off the undisturbed area of the strip, never mind the splotchy, rapidly developing footmarks, got Rahul Dravid and Sehwag.

Extra bounce

Dravid was done in by extra bounce brought by over-spin. He has a tendency of playing low with his hands early in the innings, and the ball turned, jumped, and took glove to short-leg. Sehwag made room to back-cut, but the big-spinning off-break followed him, prompting a chop on to the stumps.

Tendulkar and Laxman restored normalcy after lunch, gathering 80 near effortless runs in the two hours to tea. Laxman, despite coming to the match with unbeaten knocks of 200 and 59, struggled with his timing. But the bloody-mindedness that’s often cloaked in the most delicately embroidered of brocades was starkly evident, as Laxman poked and clipped and ground.

Tendulkar’s game appears leavened ever since he breached Brian Lara’s mark for the most Test runs.

Barring an inordinately long period on 99, when to be fair he received some of Australia’s most restrictive bowling, Tendulkar’s stay was marked by a glorious lightness.

He permitted himself the impropriety of a woolly wallop against Krejza, but the most refreshing sight was his elfin scampering down the track even if only to pat the ball away.

Staple shot

The flick to square-leg, wrists carefully turned on the ball — a staple in any Tendulkar innings of substance — was seen, as was the checked back drive, the stroke that indexes his feel.

Tendulkar was beaten in flight by Krejza on 85 and 96, but first Johnson and then Lee, both running from deepish mid-off, put down the mis-hits.

He lost Laxman to an outside edge, trapped between Haddin’s gloves and box off a sharp Krejza off-break, during this period, but square cut the off-spinner for his 10th hundred against Australia.

scoreboard

India - 1st innings: V. Sehwag b Krejza 66, M. Vijay c Haddin b Watson 33, R. Dravid c Katich b Krejza 0, S. Tendulkar lbw b Johnson 109, V.V.S. Laxman c Haddin b Krejza 64, S. Ganguly (batting) 27, M.S. Dhoni (batting) 4; Extras: (b-4, lb-2, nb-1, w-1) 8; Total: (for five wickets in 87 overs) 311.

Fall of wickets: 1-98 (Vijay), 2-99 (Dravid), 3-116 (Sehwag), 4-262 (Laxman), 5-303 (Tendulkar).

Australia bowling: Lee 12-1-46-0, Johnson 21-8-54-1, Watson 13-2-35-1, Krejza 28-1-138-3, White 10-1-24-0, Katich 3-0-8-0.

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