Laxman, Bhajji slam 50s, put India in a winning position

Published>Mon, Nov 08 10 02:17 PM

VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh have batted India into a powerful position in the first Test with timely fifties - from a losing position.

Leading by 169 runs and a 5th day pitch to bank upon, skipper MS Dhoni, if he has the belief and courage of effecting a sporting declaration, may well have a very good chance of winning the Test, and if it does end in a draw, he could put a big dent in the Kiwi morale, which is high after 2 days of heroics with both bat and ball. This is important to gain the upper hand for the rest of the series - at the moment the tourists have almost run away with all the confidence-generating points.

The ink on the script is almost dry, all Dhoni has to do is act on it. He should remember that at the start of the Test, when he won the toss, that he had a huge smile plastered on his face as he had opted to bat first, which meant he would call the shots with the Kiwis facing the Turbanator and Ojha on a last day's pitch.

When the toss was over, the Indian team was seen jumping with joy, especially Harbhajan. Surely, time is now ripe to put their money where their mouth is.

The heroes for India are of course Laxman and Harbhajan Singh.

What looked like a terminal decline on Sunday has been transformed into a position of strength for Team India by old warhorse VVS Laxman in the company of the ever-pugnacious Harbhajan Singh.

Looking at defeat at one time when five Indian wickets fell for just 15 runs, and having lost the sixth wicket (in the form of MS Dhoni for 22) near stumps, the New Zealand team must have been quite happy about their position in the Test - they could not lose from here and most probably they would win it.

However, they did not figure on Laxman continuing to bat positively in the morning and Harbhajan keeping his end of the bargain up with some solid defense work and timely aggression.

Laxman completed his 50 (47th fifty in Tests) and India were looking in fine fettle at at 139/6 (59.4 Ovs) - the overall lead is 169 runs. While Laxman took over 150 deliveries to bring up his 50, Harbhajan was not letting any grass grow under his feet, by smashing his way to 44 off just 74 deliveries (he brought up his 50 soon thereafter with a four over gully - it is his 9th Test fifty. Bhajji is only the 4th batsman at No. 8 to have got a fifty in both innings of a Test match.)

Considering this is the fifth day pitch, the turn for Indian spinners would be considerable, if they maintain their composure and stick to the basics by keeping line and length perfect. The pitch will do the rest, especially the footmarks.

This kind of a declaration will give India the courage to eclipse all opposition even from the direst of situation in the future.

After all, with Australia losing to India in Tests, India are in a great position to make the No. 1 Test spot theirs well into the future.

History beckons.

Source: Web Search