Isolating the turning points of a Test series is tricky business at the best of times: each Test match is a cumulative game, where a period of play both draws from and shapes another; in the self-contained world of a series, with its internal rhythms, points of inflection are often illusory, near impossible to situate exactly.
In a series that had the sort of momentum shifts the recently concluded one between India and South Africa had, meticulous attention to detail is demanded. But why let a trifle like that obstruct an exercise that is illuminating (rarely) and a great deal of fun (always)?
Here are this correspondent's six turning points, from an Indian perspective:
1. The toss at Centurion: Cricket teams, especially those ranked No. 1, are expected not to be held hostage by the whims of chance, which is what tosses are. But India got caught on a sticky-wet wicket — which, although not the feared gluepot of old, was hard to bat on, particularly against Dale Steyn and Morne Mokel.
Indian batsmen were guilty of not applying themselves better and it's impossible to know how Indian bowlers (without Zaheer Khan, mind) would have done on the first day.
But it hardly helped that South Africa had the better of the conditions after the strip eased under the sun.
2. India's statement of intent in the first Test: While it was impossible to recover from a first innings of 136, India's batsmen did the next best thing, responding spiritedly in the second.
It had little impact on the match, but it affected the series: India realised it could handle Steyn and Morkel, and score quickly; South Africa knew this wasn't an Indian team that would go away, something touring sides of the past have been guilty of.
3. Zaheer's return at Durban: Seen from the outside, a man who bowls off a short run-up at 130 kmph mightn't seem much. But, as someone neatly put it, on the receiving end, it's a different ball-game.
The subtleties of Zaheer's craft, his command of these nuances, his knowledge of batsmen, his understanding of their natural humours: each of these make him one of the best new-and-old-ball operators in world cricket.
He is also India's bowling brain, the man who directs Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma. While the bowling turnaround required fortune — the wickets of Alviro Petersen and Jacques Kallis came this way — Zaheer made India believe. Then there was the small matter of his second-innings partnership with V.V.S. Laxman.
4. Laxman's second-Test magic: Among the rarest and most rewarding of sporting spectacles is that of the athlete excavating his or her side from the depths of ruin.
No one has done it as frequently or as gracefully as Laxman. Whether it was the first-innings in bowler-friendly conditions or the second in extreme duress, Laxman calmly transferred the pressure to South Africa.
As Graeme Smith conceded, India raised its level at the big moments.
Laxman, as ever, was a vital part of that.
5. Dale Steyn's misfortune in Cape Town: Steyn is already among the greatest fast-bowlers of all time — a strike-rate of 39.9, the best of anyone with over 200 Test wickets indicates as much. He bowled two of his finest spells on the middle day of the third Test, with a 50-over-old ball in the morning, and the second new ball in the afternoon. The degree of curvature of his swing was quite astonishing.
Few bowlers can get the ball to bend from leg to off — the action needs to be stable, everything directed at the batsman; the wrist-work required can't be taught. The only bowler of Steyn's pace known to do it was the great Ray Lindwall.
Sachin Tendulkar batted with supreme skill; but if Steyn had Tendulkar's luck, he would have finished India.
6. Jacques Kallis and defensive India: Kallis's twin centuries in the third Test were among the most extraordinary individual achievements in Test cricket. He did for South Africa what Laxman had done for India in Durban. Both men, by taking the initiative with nerveless batting, provoked curiously defensive responses from the opposition.
India had South Africa at 130 for six in the second innings, but the decision to allow easy runs with in-out fields was ill-advised. Why new batsmen, on wickets difficult to settle on, are offered singles from the first ball is difficult to understand.
A modern-day phenomenon, it's a tactic that has rarely worked. It has a strategic use; employed indiscriminately, this is compromised. It hurt Smith in Durban; it cost India here.
