Mohali: “A champion is someone who gets up when he can’t,” Jack Dempsey, the American boxing legend, believed. That sport is a metaphor for human endeavour was once again proved on Tuesday, when VVS Laxman held his nerve to guide India to a one-wicket victory over Australia.
His back might not have supported him, but Laxman formed the backbone of a nerve-wrenching win. It was the host’s first one-wicket victory in Tests and with it guaranteed that India would retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the two-Test series.
The day started with the promise of a result, the debate being limited to the question that who would head into the sunset with a smile. And 87 minutes into the post-lunch session, the Indian camp erupted with the joy of triumph, which looked impossible till the winning runs were scored.
The Indians sought their saviour in Sachin Tendulkar, but found it in Laxman. And Ishant Sharma enacted the role of an angel to the tee.
The onus, in the morning, was on Tendulkar. With 161 runs required and more than half of the gladiators vanquished, the Little Master was expected to carry out the herculean task.
Laxman, who had a sore back, entered the arena with Suresh Raina as runner, after Zaheer Khan’s vigil ended 6.5 overs into the day’s play. While Tendulkar looked in control of the Australian attack, Ben Hilfenhaus trained his bouncers at Laxman hoping to cash in on his wonky back.
The dream duo, as far as India’s hopes were concerned, added 43 for the sixth wicket before Tendulkar’s attempted upper-cut off Doug Bollinger landed in Mike Hussey’s hands.
With the Little Master gone, the battle tilted slightly in Australia’s favour. A terrible mix-up between MS Dhoni and Raina resulted in the Indian skipper’s run out. India looked in huge trouble and as Harbhajan Singh took his long trek back to the pavilion, the host’s capitulation looked imminent.
At 124 for eight, and with Ishant Sharma partnering Laxman, India’s chance to climb 216 looked slender. But then began a tale which would have made medieval knights proud.
Laxman’s 79-ball 73 will be a part of cricket archives not for it’s quantity, but for the quality and the timing. Known to fight back from crunch situations, the Hyderabadi used his tensile wrists and executed his pulls and drives with perfection. In what was the shot of the day, Laxman pulled a Hilfenhaus delivery from outside the off-stump and bisected deep mid-wicket and deep square-leg with a surgeon’s precision. Well known for his penchant for tormenting Australia, the right-handed batsman dismissed everything that Ricky Ponting’s men threw at him. Out of his 7490 Test runs, 2279 have come against Australia. Such is his love affair with the men from Down Under!
And Ishant was the real phenomenon. On Monday, his fiery spell had initiated victory thoughts in the Indian camp. On Tuesday, he left Ricky Ponting groping for an elusive victory as an Aussie skipper on Indian soil. Ishant kept his cool and tied one end up allowing Laxman to play freely. Though he got out due to a wrong decision, Ishant’s invaluable 31 (off 92 balls) set India up for a close finish.
The tension showed on Laxman when in a rare outburst he gave an earful to Pragyan Ojha. The tail-ender got into a ‘yes-no’ situation with Raina in a Ben Hilfenhaus over. But finally, it was Laxman’s poise, Zaheer Khan’s perseverance and Ishant’s lion-hearted performance that lifted India in a cliffhanger.
Ponting will consider himself unlucky to lose Doug Bollinger through a stiff abdomen after lunch. But his decision to bring in Nathan Hauritz instead of a pacer, to begin the day was baffling. The spinner leaked 45 runs in nine overs.
Game, uncertainty is thy name!
very, very special
It was another of V.V.S. Laxman’s magical knocks that helped India go 1-0 up in the two-Test series against Australia on Tuesday. In his 114 Tests, there have been numerous occasions when he single-handedly scripted a victory. The following is the list of his contributions to a winning cause:
51 vs SA (Ahmedabad, Nov. 1996) — In the second innings of his debut Test which India won by 64 runs
95 vs Aus (Calcutta, March 1998) — India won by an innings and 219 runs
59 and 281 vs Aus (Calcutta, March 2001) — India won by 171 runs after following on
65 and 66 vs Aus (Chennai, March 2001) — India won by 2 wkts
69 .. and 74 vs WI (Port of Spain, April 2002) — India won by 37 runs
148 vs Aus (Adelaide, Dec. 2003) — India won by 4 wkts
71 vs Pak (Rawalpindi, April 2004) — India won by an innings and 131 runs to win their first series in Pakistan
69 vs Aus (Mumbai, Nov. 2004) — In the second innings of a low-scoring Test which India won by 13 runs
140 vs Zim (Bulawayo, Sept. 2005) — India won by an innings and 90 runs
69 vs SL (Delhi, Dec. 2005) — 2nd top-scorer for India as they won by 188 runs
104 vs SL (Ahmedabad, Dec. 2005) — Top-scorer for India as they won by 259 runs
73 vs SA (J’burg, Dec. 2006) — Top-scorer for India as they won by 123 runs, their first win in SA
72 .. vs Pak (Delhi, Nov. 2007) — Top-scorer for India as they won by 6 wkts
79 vs Aus (Perth, Jan. 2008) — In the second innings of a Test which India won by 72 runs
143 .. vs SA (Calcutta, Feb. 2010) — India won by an innings and 57 runs
56 and 103 .. vs SL (Colombo PSS, Aug. 2010) — India won by 5 wkts chasing 256 (last 43 runs in the second innings came with a runner)
73 .. vs SL (Mohali, Oct. 2010) — In the second innings which India won chasing 216 (all runs with a runner)
