India v SA : Second test, Kolkata : India stays on top

T he second test match of this two match series started off quite sedately. There was speculation on whether Smith will play after injuring his finger, but that was swiftly set aside. SA were without the services of Mark Boucher and they promptly drafted in a spare batsman in Alviro Petersen with AB doing duties behind the stumps. They also won the toss and started the day pretty well. Both Amla and Petersen scored centuries and at Tea they were 200-odd for the loss of two wickets. In the next 45 minutes or so they lost 5 more wickets and finally were bowled out for 296. Indians fought back stupendously and never showed any signs of frustration when the Proteas were sailing smoothly for a mammoth first innings total.

The Indian batsmen then came to the party and Sehwag and Tendulkar dominated the proceedings on day 2. SA bowlers wasted their energies in bowling a negative leg stump line and I thought they missed a trick or two by not making the Indians play the deliveries. On top of that, they also spilt about 7-8 catches, which must be a record of sorts for them. For Sehwag, the line does not matter and he just kept thrashing them to all the corners of the park. The Little Master completed his fourth consecutive test century and I think he wants to be in the six consecutive centuries club. Post tea session on day 2 also produced a flurry of wickets but Dhoni and VVS completed the demolition job on day 3. VVS literally owns the Eden Garden wicket. Indians settled for a lead of 346 and declared.

With two days to spare, it looked like India will pocket the test match quite easily, but rains took out a good chunk of the fourth day. As is becoming the habit with this SA team, the last day went to the wire and the final wicket was claimed by the Indians with 9 deliveries left. They seem to be at the wrong end of the trick this too, because earlier England defied them in similar fashion in two test matches. Hashim Amla was simply outstanding with close to 500 runs in the series with three centuries. Smith rightly described him as the glue at number three.

So India retained the No 1 rank in test cricket. A two match series is never a good idea, and when two top ranked teams played, there was a very high probability of dull draws. But we ended up having two one sided games, with the victors winning by an innings.
Some interesting stats and comments that were observed during this game:

1. We had two frontline batsmen from SA scoring centuries, yet the team scored less than 300 runs.
2. Four Indian batsmen scored centuries and four SA bowlers conceded centuries.

Fitness remains a major concern for the Indian and for most teams these days. With so much cricket being played, injuries are bound to take toll. The bench strength also remains a worry. This was a great opportunity for a youngster to step in and grab the chance, but they failed. So lot of thinking and planning for the board and the selectors. They must keep the team fresh and hungry if we are to win the 2011 World Cup.