KARACHI
The abject failure of the Indian top-order batsmen, barring Yuvraj Singh and,to some extent, Sourav Ganguly, in the final innings of the Test series againstPakistan contrasted sharply with the success that the home batsmen found intheir second innings when the top seven batsmen made half-centuries and more.
There is an impression, not entirely incorrect, that while bowlers get therough end of the critics' stick for their failures, batsmen get away ratherlightly. But when one casts one's mind back to Bangalore last year when Indialost the final Test to Pakistan by 168 runs, one can distinctly recall thebatsmen being brought before the firing line.
It is a pity that Yuvraj's two Test centuries in Pakistan have come inmatches that India has lost. He will, however, remember waging a lone battle asthe wickets feel in heap, the other batsmen finding it tough to come up withanswers posed by the Pakistan bowlers. His show of character was praiseworthyand the only other batsman who went remotely close to emulating that for sometime was Ganguly.
In not even putting a semblance of a fight on Wednesday after Pakistan setIndia the task of batting five and a half sessions to earn a draw, the Indianbatsmen showed a distinct lack of application. The surrender started in thefirst over when a tentative Rahul Dravid edged a catch off Shoaib Akhtar to thewicket-keeper.
There will be some suggestions that Dravid should have dropped himself downthe order to a more familiar No. 3 position, especially after he had anuncomfortable time in the first innings against the new ball. But, having scoreda century in each of the first two Tests in Lahore and Faisalabad, he may noteven have considered the option seriously.
Mohammed Asif exploited Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar'shesitant footwork by getting the ball to snake through their defences. That leftGanguly and Yuvraj to delay the inevitable with a century stand but Pakistan hadall but wrapped up the win when Tendulkar was bowled.
Possibly playing his last Test innings in Pakistan, the little big man ofIndian cricket conveyed a determination to leave his stamp of class. A pull aswell punches through covers and point off Shoaib showed his eagerness to steerIndia to safety. But he played inside the line of an Asif delivery and wasbowled. He was down on all fours after a ball that kept low slipped passed theoutside edge of his bat and hit the off-stump.
In 16 Tests against Pakistan, Tendulkar has scored 918 runs at an average of39.91, well below his career average of 56.14, but there still are some goodmemories from the time he made his Test debut as a 16-year-old in Karachi in1989.
His maiden half-century in Faisalabad, the 136 in Chennai in 1999 when henearly won the Test match almost single-handedly despite suffering a naggingback pain and his disappointment after making an unbeaten 194 in Multan in 2004are all memories that his fans will cherish for time to come.
There was nothing memorable about the 94 that he picked up in Mohali lastyear but he compensated with two wonderful half-centuries in the next Test inKolkata before adopting an ultra-defensive approach in Bangalore. On this trip,he made just 63 runs in three innings but each of his dismissals can be viewedwith interest. He gloved a catch down the leg-side off Shoaib in Faisalabad thatwas later shown to be not out as the glove was not in touch with the bat and,cramped for space, was bowled off bat and pad by Abdul Razzaq in the firstinnings here.
Come to think of it, when India comes back to play Test cricket here in 2010,quite a few other players may not also be around in the squad. Anil Kumble wouldbe around 40 years of age, Ganguly 38, Dravid at 37, like Tendulkar and Laxman,just a year younger. It would take them all some doing to come back and playanother Test in Pakistan.
