Rudra Pratap Singh

Adelaide: Saturday, in Harbhajan Singh’s opinion, will be “the biggest day” for Team India as it pushes towards levelling the four-Test series, sponsored by 3 mobile.

However, Anil Kumble is unlikely to have the services of spearhead Rudra Pratap Singh, who suffered a right hamstring injury on Friday afternoon.

The MRI scan report is awaited, but it appears Rudra Pratap won’t be able to quickly resume bowling. “He’s having some pain and has to be reassessed in the morning,” informed assistant manager Dr M. V. Sridhar.

Just as well then that captain Kumble and the rest of the think tank chose five bowlers for the final Test. For, if Rudra Pratap has to rest, at least four specialists will still be available to try and quickly bowl Australia out.

“We’ve got a good total (526)... It has definitely put Australia under pressure... The onus is now on our bowlers,” former captain and cricket manager Ravi Shastri told The Telegraph.

By stumps on Day II, the Australians reached 62 without any damage. Hardly a surprise given that Matthew Hayden is back at the very top of the order.

The Australians, though, will rue the five catches put down over the two days. If V.V.S.Laxman and Mahendra Singh Dhoni got lives on the opening day, Kumble and Ishant Sharma (twice) were lucky on Friday.

Dropped very early by Phil Jaques off Brett Lee, Kumble scored as many as 87 and, for a while, it seemed he’d get his second Test hundred in a shade over six months.

[Kumble’s maiden hundred — an unbeaten 110 — came at The Oval.]

As significant, Kumble featured in jumbo partnerships: 107 for the eighth-wicket with the fiesty Harbhajan (63) and 58 for the last with young Ishant.

Sachin Tendulkar, by the way, added 29 to his overnight 124 before becoming another Lee victim.

The Adelaide Oval wicket is playing like a beauty, but the deterioration could be dramatic from Day IV onwards.

“I’ve always enjoyed batting, it’s just that I’ve begun to play more sensibly... I did become emotional on reaching my fifty, because I’d promised teammates I’d get some runs... I gestured that I had a lot of heart,” Harbhajan said.

He added: “Because of the runs we’ve put on board, we can play around with our fields... No batsman likes too many close-in fielders... As for Australia being the world champions, we’re the only team to have (consistently) challenged them...

“That we’re a very good team if we play to potential is what encouraged me to say at the MCG itself, during the first Test, that we wouldn’t lose the series... I’m confident we’ll win here and make it 2-2...”

Harbhajan dismissed a suggestion that, having been slapped a three-Test ban, he’d also been out to prove a point.

“I wasn’t proving a point and I don’t have to be worried as the Board is taking care of everything (the appeal is scheduled for Tuesday-Wednesday)...”

Harbhajan, however, did take a swipe at the so-called experts. “I know what I can do... If I’d been listening to experts, then I wouldn’t have achieved what I have... I don’t take advice from everybody. If I have to, I take it from my captain and the other seniors in the dressing room.”

Quite an aggressive Sardar that.

Footnote: Harbhajan, meanwhile, saluted Kumble as the “best captain” after Sourav Ganguly. He explained: “Kumble’s a great guy... He’s a fighter and wants everybody else too to fight... I’ve been lucky to have a captain like him...”