THE recently concluded Test series between the arch rivals, with its twists and turns, ended on a very high note for the Pakistanis. After going, one down, in the second Test they bounced back with vengeance at Bangalore, thrashing India by 168 runs to level the series.
It was a dream Test for Inzamam; first he scored a brilliant and flawless 184 in his hundredth Test and then he pulled off a remarkable victory to humble the Indians in such a manner as has not been able to do for a long time.
Inzi joined the exclusive club of four who had the honour of scoring a hundred in their hundredth Test; the others are Javed Miandad, Alec Stewart, Gordon Greenidge and Colin Cowdrey. But none of the above four led their team to victory in the penultimate Test and only Inzamam holds this unique record.
Younis Khan was also outstanding at Bangalore. In the first innings he hammered a mighty 267 which is the highest ever score on this venue, and then he scored a swashbuckling undefeated 84 in the second innings when another century was for the asking, but a prudent declaration in order to clinch the Test was more important.
The third wicket stand of 324 runs between Inzamam and Younis in the first innings was the highest ever stand for third wicket in India. Another player who deserves special mention for the Bangalore performance is Shahid Afridi.
In the second innings he set the stadium ablaze with a 26-ball 50 to join Ian Botham as the second fastest scorer of 50 in Test cricket. His innings of 58 was studded with seven fours and two huge sixes. He put on 91 for the opening wicket along with Yasir Hameed who contributed 76.
In the Indian second innings Shahid bowled 17 overs for 13 runs and claimed three quick wickets including the prized scalps of Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly. It was the third time in four innings that he had undone Tendulkar.
Pakistan’s batting performance was formidable at Bangalore — 570 in the first innings and 262 for two in the second. The Indian batting catapulted in the second innings in face of a very fine team effort by the Pakistanis, with Afridi picking up three wickets and two wickets apiece between Kaneria, Arshad and Sami.
The first Test at Mohali was also unique but had its down sides. Inzamam who scored 57 and 86 in the two innings was given LBW on both occasions, although he wasn’t out as the replays showed. Had he not been given out wrongly on both occasions, the whole course of the innings and the match may have been different.
In sharp contrast, Tendulkar, when on eight in the first innings, was caught, off bat and pad by Asim Kamal at silly point off Danish Kaneria, but he was not given out. The edge which Tendulkar got was a very thick one and he knew he was out. Instead of walking off the field, he shamelessly played on and went onto make 94. That he did not get his hundred was poetic justice.
In the third Test also there was an appalling decision on the fifth day when Gambhir was not given out, although television replays confirmed that he had edged an out-swinging ball from Razzak to Kamran Akmal, with the hosts yet to open their account for the day. Bad decisions either way are in very bad taste. They sour the atmosphere and disturb the level playing field. No batsman should be allowed to stay on the crease when out and none should feel undone by a wrong decision. Since the umpires on the elite panel have repeatedly blundered so often it is high time that all decisions are referred to the third umpire. Not only will he be a right judge but his judgment would be corroborated by the millions who see the action replays. When technology is available its full use must be made for imparting fair judgments and it is high time that the role of the field umpires is reduced to adjudging wides and no-balls only.
In the first Test Pakistan surpassed three previous landmarks. Firstly the score of 496 for 9 in the second innings was the highest for a touring team batting second in India. It could have been improvised further had we scored four more runs. Then we would have been the only touring team to score 500 in the second innings. We should be mindful of these milestones.
Secondly, in the same innings Inzamam and Youhana shared a fourth wicket century partnership for the eighth time, obliterating the previous best of seven shared by Mark and Steve Waugh. Thirdly, Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzak featured in a record seventh wicket partnership of 184 against India surpassing the previous best of 179 between Imran Khan and Ijaz Faqih, also in India.
The partnership of 184 between centurion Kamran and Razzak steered the visitors to safety from troubled waters with both the batsmen playing an innings of true grit. It was a commendable effort and in the process Kamran became the second wicket-keeper after Imtiaz to score a century against India.
The honours of the second Test went to India, inspite of centuries from Younis Khan and Youhana. Rahul Dravid, aptly nicknamed ‘The Wall’ scored a century in each innings and has now done it twice. Only Sunil Gavaskar has achieved this feat thrice. But ‘The Wall’ is still young and quite capable of doing it again. He made his debut in 1996, has scored 20 centuries and has an average of 58.45, the highest ever for an Indian batsman. He is definitely their best batsman as he is technically very correct and gets behind the line of the ball whereas Tendulkar often plays across the line.
On the other hand, captain Saurav Ganguly could only manage 48 runs in five innings; his captaincy and Test place are certainly at stake.
Younis Khan scored 508 runs in the series at an arrange of 101.60 and has effectively filled the number three slot whereas Inzamam and Youhana are solid at numbers four and five. Inzamam and Youhana scored 401 and 237 runs respectively in the series.
Danish Kaneria is a vastly improved bowler after the Australian tour and was predictably the most successful bowler on either side with a tally of 19 wickets as against Kumble’s 17. In fact, Richie Benand has even rated Kaneria as the second best leg-spinner after Warne.
The crowd at Mohali and Bangalore was extremely sporting applauding every boundary and every wicket while that at Eden Gardens was traditionally unsporting. In all it was an extremely absorbing series and our players will be returning home with their heads held high.
