Scorecard | Final day's report | Spin debate alive
Super sixes
Only
once had Sachin Tendulkar begun a Test innings with a six: when he
crunched Muttiah Muralitharan back over his head and out of the stadium
first ball at Nagpur in 1997. On Tuesday, the maestro went one better,
wading into Nathan Lyon’s off-spin for two massive strikes over long-on
on the first two deliveries. Another hit for maximum would have won the
match in style, but that wasn’t to be and it was left to Cheteshwar
Pujara to stroke the winning run. Tendulkar though made what is possibly
his last Test appearance at Chepauk a memorable one for those who
turned up.
Numbers game
Match-by-match
statistical upheavals are now commonplace. The last day of the Chepauk
Test too contributed to a shift in numbers. MS Dhoni equaled Sourav
Ganguly as India’s most successful captain on 21 Test wins. Dhoni has
now won all the five Tests that he has captained against Australia at
home, but lost all three to them away. When Ravindra Jadeja removed
Nathan Lyon to finish Australia's second innigs, it was the 20th wicket
taken by an Indian spinner. This is the third instance of Indian
spinners picking up all 20 wickets in the match. The previous occasions
were against Australia in 1972/73 and New Zealand in 1975/76.
Opening trouble
In
a match with several positives, there was still a festering concern for
India. The state of their openers. Virender Sehwag and Murali Vijay did
very little to redeem their places in the side. Sehwag’s spectacles
didn't appear to have helped his batting as he failed in either inning.
Both openers were out to James Pattinson in the first essay. Their
dismissals as India chased a modest 50 to win were embarrassing. Vijay
spooned a catch to mid-off trying to drive; Sehwag was out defending to a
spinner. There is bound to be fair discussion for Shikhar Dhawan to be
drafted in for the second Test, after which a back-in-form Gautam
Gambhir would be itching to get back in the thick of it.
Winning spin
Another
issue that is likely to spawn debate is the number of spinners in the
eleven. Dhoni used his pace bowlers for just three of the 93 in the
second innings. All twenty wickets falling to spin hinted that the
inclusion of another tweaker wouldn’t have impaired India’s chances,
rather it would have lent another facet to the attack. Harbhajan Singh
bowled better in the second innings than he did in the first; still his
failure to hit the right line an outright helpful track made for no
special performance. Ravindra Jadeja did his bit with the ball; his
batting a mocking shadow of his domestic domination. Another expected
turned at Hyderabad – the venue of the second test – just may allow
Pragyan Ojha a game at the expense of a pacer.
Good show
After
struggling against England, Ashwin returned to form with 12 wickets on a
minefield of a pitch and against an inexperienced batting line up. For a
while in the first innings, when he had scooped out the top six, Ashwin
raised hopes of another 10-wicket haul – a-la Anil Kumble against
Pakistan in 1999. But Ravindra Jadeja destroyed that dream by shattering
Mitchell Starc’s stumps. The Chennai off-spinner however did become the
first Indian bowler to take 10 in a match against Australia, since
Kumble at the same venue in 2004. Ashwin also became the fastest to 500
runs and 75 wickets in Tests. He got there in his 13th match, displacing
Ian Botham (14 Tests) to second place.
Testing times
It
was a match of contrasts for Australia. In Moises Henriques they found a
valiant debutant who ground out two fighting half-centuries in
nerve-wracking conditions. And in Nathan Lyon they discovered, to their
misfortune, an off-spinner totally out of his league. While Henriques
contributed 149 runs on debut, Lyon was taken for 215 in his 47
laborious first innings overs. India’s captain MS Dhoni was particularly
severe on Lyon, taking 104 from 85 balls, including five disdainful
sixes. His only high point was bowling Sachin Tendulkar before a
century-expectant crowd, but really Xavier Doherty, Glenn Maxwell and
Steve Smith couldn't have possibly done a worse job.
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