The long kiss goodbye

The critical moment of the day for the Australians came when Ricky Ponting called incorrectly to lose the toss. Batting first is such a big advantage in the subcontinent (especially if you make a big score first up) that you could feel a lot of the wind going out of the Aussie sails.

For a brief while the Indians gave them some hope. Brett Lee got Virender Sehwag with a peach of an in-cutter that would have thudded into middle stump had Sehwag's leg not been in the way.

Rahul Dravid is in the phase of his career where old methods are not producing the results they once used to. So, in trying to change slightly, he is overdoing it. He was out, once again, to a wide ball from Johnson that the Dravid of old, unmindful of the sharpening knives of the media, would have left well alone. Instead he found the bucket-like hands of Matthew Hayden at first slip.

After that we were treated to a glorious period of batting as Sachin Tendulkar turned back the clock. Unfurling his patented back-foot punches and flourishing flicks, Tendulkar looked good for a big, big one when the onset of tea put him into the negative mindset that has been his downfall in the 2000's. Playing out for a break is not something that Sehwag does and you'd think a seasoned campaigner like Sachin, who professes to play every ball on its merit, would not worry about such trifles, and take his cue from the opener. Anyway, a tentative prod found the edge through to the keeper and the end result was a splendid 68 that was at least 200 less than he could have made on this track.

By this time Gautam Gambhir was well-settled, motoring along splendidly in a type of innings unique to Test cricket - the sigmoidal curve-like pattern of accumulation. At the other end, VVS Laxman picked up from where Tendulkar left off. This was a typical Laxman innings - an initial flourish into the 30's where his tensile wrists found gaps frequently enough to disperse the field followed by a patient accumulation of singles. Sanjay Manjrekar once described Laxman as an aggressive batsman with the temperament of a defensive player. Which means that Laxman is capable of playing through long periods of defensive cricket without letting it affect his ability to pick up and hit the juicy offerings when they do come along. (Tendulkar will do well to learn a little more of this from Laxman). For a batsman who has scored almost 60% of his runs in boundaries over his career, hitting 53 with just 3 fours must have been a strange experience.

But his presence at the crease was enough for Gambhir to relax and continue through the 60's and 70's and the Delhi-ite raced through the double digits till he found himself on 99 and a defensive prod followed by a scything square-cut should have signaled a 100. Instead Michael Hussey, at point, cut off a sure boundary. As an aside, Hussey has to rank up there with the great point fielders in the game. Anyway, Gambhir turned to Plan B as Ricky Ponting brought everyone into the close-in circle. The bowler was Shane Watson, who bowls in the 140-145 kmph range. As Watson delivered the ball, Gambhir took the two-step forward step usually reserved for spinners and, with a clean swing of the bat, deposited the ball into the stands beyond long-on. Just like that was was on 105 and continued the trend of improving on his score with every inning in this Test series (21, 29, 67, 104, and now 149 not out).

Tomorrow, the key will be to reach lunch without losing any wickets. After that the afternoon and evening sessions will be there for the taking. If India manage that, then the Aussies will be fighting for survival, not something conducive to taking the Indians down in a home Test.

I am going to keep my fingers crossed that Laxman can pass Mohammad Azharuddin's Test tally of runs. To do that, he needs 161 runs in this innings. If he manages it, then India will definitely have found themselves in the drivers seat. Good luck, Laxman, I'll be rooting for you, crossed fingers and bitten nails at the ready!