NEW DELHI: It was a day on which Ravichandran Ashwin's six-wicket haul turned fortunes around. The Feroz Shah Kotla also witnessed a quiet, assured Sachin Tendulkar's march to 15,000 Test runs as he held India steady in a steely push for victory. If India pull it off, it will be their third-highest successful run chase.
Scorecard | Match in Pics
Yet, it's amazing how bland the action in the middle can appear once Virender Sehwag has been dismissed in a Test match.
After all, here were Tendulkar and Dravid - the two highest run-getters in Test cricket history - batting according to the situation in the fourth innings, as India looked to recover from the often embarrassing, and often rapid swing of fortunes in the first Test against West Indies.
They were chasing 276 on a low, slow pitch which required oodles of patience to bat on. The nefarious reputation of the track had been unfairly enhanced by wickets falling in clutches over the past two and a half days. With Tendulkar (batting on 33) and Dravid (batting on 30) dropping anchor and steering India to the relative safety of 152/2 at stumps, there were sighs of relief.
It was Sehwag's short stay just earlier, though, which had brought the smiles back. The measured second-innings 55 (55b; 5x4, 2x6) on Tuesday eased fears the talismanic opener would be scratchy on his return from long injury layoff.
Sehwag has resumed normal service almost immediately, notching up half-centuries twice in two days. When he bats, neither the pitch nor the match situation seems cause for concern. He is again the most crucial cog in this Indian batting wheel, and the penchant for rapid starts with Gambhir remains intact.
Though Sehwag was more calculated and careful in his approach considering the tricky nature of constructing the chase, his free-flowing style was not suited for this surface. Ravi Rampaul botched a caught-and-bowled chance early on. Eventually the slowness of the pitch did Sehwag in as he chopped a straight Sammy delivery on to the stumps. He had done enough, though, and the 124 now required for victory doesn't seem insurmountable with eight wickets in hand.
The pitch doesn't appear to be in danger of any rapid deterioration either, even though the batsmen have to guard against it getting lower and slower.
This turnaround in fortunes came after the West Indies, having dominated some big moments since the start of this Test, botched up the most crucial morning session and paid the price.
As the tables turned, India found a promising new star in offie Ashwin, who bagged 6/47 including the wickets of Chanderpaul (again the top-scorer with 47), Samuels and Bravo. By lunch, the West Indies, who had enjoyed a 95-run first-innings lead, had done their best to fritter away the advantage to be at 109/7, losing five wickets. But captain Darren Sammy led the way with a spunky, fluent 42 (37b; 5x4, 1x6) and along with Chanderpaul's unusually urgent approach, there were signs of a revival. The last three West Indies wickets added 96 runs.
It was Ashwin, though, whose performance stood out from either side. He got Samuels with a carrom ball, picked a leaf out of Pragyan Ojha's book by seeking to be more accurate and bowling steady, straight lines, and probably the wicket of Chanderpaul was the turning point of the day. Sammy was unfortunate as he fell to one that kept low from Ashwin, the first dismissal in the Test where the low nature of the pitch had a direct influence.
The exact number of runs (276) were chased down by the West Indies against India in a Test in 1987, with a Viv Richards ton leading the way. Now that the shoe's on the other foot, will the Test end with the Tendulkar special everyone had been anticipating all along?
