Kotla batting fest

At tea on the second day of the ongoing test match between India & Australia anyone would have assumed this match to be a cakewalk for India. With 550 runs on the board and VVS Laxman looking on 160, it was clear that India was planning on batting only once on the Kotla wicket. Yet here we are on day 4 with Australia not only avoiding the follow-on but also looking to bridge the 200-run gap and quickly too. This match is one battinng fest - 4 days, about a thousand runs scored and only 13 wickets taken so far in the match. All this on a pitch that's supposed to favour spin bowling. Talk about ironic!

So what went wrong? Australia batted beautifully, no doubt about that and it didn't help that Kumble was out of the field more than on it and when he did come, he was nursing a nasty injury. But what made the difference was that even with the pitch deteriorating and the ball spinning wildly, India lacked the killer instinct. Was it missing intensity or lack of ideas, there just wasn't a moment in this match where India could take quick wickets.

A couple of days back, it was so easy to say that this match will only have two outcomes - a draw or a win for India. Now, however, it's anybody's game. The odd thing is, India didn't even bowl too poorly. Although yes, there were a few half chances, especially Clarke's lofted shot that just grazed the top of Ishant Sharma's hand. Clarke was on 21 at that time. Perhaps, the score would be much different if India had got him then. Well we'll never know will we?

The upshot of all this is that it has been an interesting test match although as an Indian fan, I was rather hoping India had wrapped this match up (with an innings defeat if possible). Now, unless India manage a miraculous victory out of this, this will be remembered as an australian victory (even if they draw the game). We'll have to wait and see how this match affects the game of the two teams in the next test. This was supposed to be the decider - looks like this one's just a prelude. I think I'd better stay tuned in - the best is certainly yet to come!