| The Hindu, Wednesday, Mar 09, 2005 |
| Memorable comeback by Balaji |
By S. Dinakar
March 8, 2005 |
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MOHALI, MARCH 8. Lakshmipathy Balaji is back. The lanky Indian paceman turned around and raised his arms in triumph after trapping Rana Naved-ul-Hasan leg-before, savouring a maiden five-wicket innings haul in Tests on the first day of his international comeback from an abdominal injury.
Asim Kamal is here to stay. The Pakistani left-hander, in an admirable fire-fighting knock of 91, rallied with the lower order enabling the visitors recover from 156 for five, when captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was dismissed, to a more respectable 312.
Balaji, with a clever variation in length, castled Kamal in the dying moments, but on an entertaining opening day of the first TVS Cup Test when there were wickets and runs before a full house, both the youngsters emerged winners.
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| It’s advantage India and the host has a chance of batting through the second and the third days, when the wicket will be playing at its best, and build a lead. Application is the need of the hour from the Indian batsmen, who will have to cope with a potentially threatening first session on Wednesday. |
| Sourav Ganguly rightly opted to bowl and logically India picked three pacemen; otherwise the very purpose of fielding first would have been defeated. The decision was tough on Harbhajan Singh but then it was Balaji who suited India’s gameplan better. |
| Selecting a lone specialist spinner for a home Test was a revolutionary move in several respects and could have long-standing ramifications in Indian cricket. |
| Seam movement |
| There was definitely a measure of seam movement for the pacemen on the grassy pitch, but not too much assistance in terms of bounce. And as the day progressed, the wicket eased out. |
| For someone returning to international cricket from injury, Balaji operated with increasing rhythm at a lively pace. The right-armer brought in variety to the attack and his first spell of 11-3-38-1, spread across either side of lunch, was a whole-hearted one. He ran in fluently, delivered from a high-arm action, and bowled a probing off-stump line. |
| The paceman was particularly impressive with the second new ball — taken in the 81st over — castling Mohammed Sami with a peach of a ball from wide off the crease which actually seamed away from the right-hander. |
| That was an exceptional ball but some of the Pakistani batsmen contributed to their own downfall. Left-handed opener Salman Butt played across the line to Irfan Pathan, his partner Taufeeq Umar, another southpaw, essayed some spunky strokes in his 44 before dragging Balaji on to his stumps just before lunch. Yousuf Youhana and Abdul Razzaq let themselves and their team down by flashing at deliveries from Pathan and Balaji. |
| Shot selection is critical on a seaming pitch where the batsmen need to apply themselves and play the percentages well — be judicious in the corridor, get on to the front foot to counter the movement, play straight and wait for the loose deliveries. |
| Ganguly rung in the changes well and Pakistan was unable to string together partnerships — the 59-run stand for the third wicket between Inzamam and Umar was the highest of the innings — but Kamal’s determined batting and a certain looseness that crept into the Indian bowling prevented the home team from bowling out Pakistan within 250. |
| Prize wickets |
| For India, Inzamam, Younis Khan and Youhana were key wickets. While Zaheer might have been fortunate to win a marginal leg-before decision against Younis, Pathan continued his mental dominance over Youhana, angling the delivery across the right-hander to find a thin outside edge, after lunch. To his credit, the Pakistani walked. Inzamam (57) fought hard. The Pakistan captain settled down to essay some lovely strokes, none more emphatic than a cracking square cut off Pathan. |
| Inzamam reached his fifty and looked good for a three-figure knock when he, pushing forward, was foxed by a Kumble delivery that went straight through with the angle and rapped him on the pads; here it was the leg-spinner’s clever use of the crease that did the batsman in. In conditions suiting the pacemen, a spinner had bagged a prize wicket but then Kumble, who also had Kamral Akmal edging a leg-break to slip, is a champion performer. |
| Kamal’s role |
| Then Kamal held centre-stage. He is a compact left-hander who plays close to his body, laying more emphasis on solidity than flair. In a line-up of stroke-makers, Kamal’s role at No. 6 is a vital one. The Pakistani did produce firm strokes — there were two well-executed off-drives off Pathan and Zaheer — but was not indiscreet in his methods. |
| Kamal was lucky on 79 when V.V.S. Laxman could not latch on to a stiff chance at short cover, Kumble being the bowler to suffer. However, it was a day when he had earned some good fortune for himself. |
| The southpaw began courageously pulling Pathan and gradually constructed an innings. Kamal possesses an essential quality — temperament. So does Balaji. There is no better stage to test this commodity than an India-Pakistan Test. |
