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Taylor-made win for Aussies

Prem Panicker

IF ever there was a compelling argument for a five-Test series, this is it -- Australia came back strongly to win the third Test with 8 wickets, and a day, to spare.

At the end of it, you sit back and review the game. And wonder, are the Aussies just finding their feet here?

True, they had practise games before the Test series began, but touring teams -- and this is equally true of India -- do take a while to settle down. So could it be that two more Tests would have produced tighter, more exciting games and provided a more real index of the relative strengths and merits of the respective sides than the 2-1 result we are now left with?

Something, definitely, for the boards of the various Test countries to think about.

On the day, it was always going to be a question of how well Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Azharuddin coped with the bowling in the first session. As it happened, the two most in-form batsmen for the home side were back in the hut before drinks -- and the game was won, and lost, right there.

Sachin Tendulkar, perhaps the only one of the Indian batsmen to look completely at home on a deteriorating pitch, was the first to go. Kasprowicz, who this morning produced as incisive a spell of quick bowling, laced with swing and seam movement, as any seen in recent times on Indian pitches, had just been straight driven by the batsman. Two deliveries later, he bowled another one on middle, holding it back -- Tendulkar however failed to spot the slower ball, played the straight drive too early, and pushed it back to the bowler who grabbed a sharp return catch.

Azharuddin, the next man to leave, was out to a classic fast bowler's ploy. Two short, lifting deliveries troubled the Indian captain, the first an in-cutter that cut him in two, the next a good lifter that he had to play down from near his chin. The next ball was a fast, inswinging yorker. Azharuddin, in a manner reminiscent of Greg Blewett against Srinath at Calcutta, flicked across the line, played all over it and began the long walk back.

Saurav Ganguly, judging by the way he played, came out with an overly defensive mindset. Throughout this series, the Indian batsmen succeeded because they did not go for pre-determined defence, opting instead to play firm strokes whenever opportunity afforded. Ganguly, however, seemed in a mood to pat even the odd half volley back to the bowler -- and when you get in that mindset, you almost inevitably end up trying to break out with the wrong shot. Here, he attempted to sweep at Robertson, bowling around the wicket and angling across his body (shades of Sidhu against Warne in the first innings). The ball was fuller in length, too full for the stroke, Ganguly played over the ball and found it curling in to peg back his leg stump.

If the first two dismissals of the day owed to good bowling, then Ganguly and, after him, Kumble fell to poor shot selection. Kumble got a full toss from Robertson that he attempted to pull, from middle stump -- the fierceness of the attempted stroke causing him to miss it altogether, for the ball to strike him on the pad plumb in front of the stumps.

Kasprowicz then came back, to ensure that the Indian tail did not wag too long -- Harvinder bagged a pair, LBW again (and this time a clear decision, as opposed to his first innings dismissal). A fast in cutter was too good for Raju, going through the gate as the tailender played down the wrong line. And Harbajan Singh, like Harvinder Singh before him, was trapped plumb in front by a ball too quick for him to cope with.

There really was no doubt who, among the Australian bowlers, took the palm -- Kapra's spell on the day read 9-2-12-5, and that was destructive bowling at its best. The Aussie quick achieved his results by pitching a very full length, swinging it both ways and alternating with the incoming ball off the seam. More interestingly, unlike in earlier outings he did not use the short-pitched ball as a stock delivery -- instead, as against Azharuddin, he used it as a weapon of attack, unsettling the batsman before producing the wicket-taking delivery.

Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin had a problem -- a lead of 193, with close to a day and a half left to play, was too few to defend. His choices were clear -- either attack, flat out, in a bid to take wickets early, or defend runs and hope frustration would induce errors in the Australian batsmen.

It will, perhaps, appear rather churlish to criticise a captain who has led the home side to a two-one series win over one of the strongest sides in the world -- but in all honesty, you cannot help but feel that Azhar chose the wrong option when he tried for a balance of attack and defence.

Harvinder opened the bowling with just one slip in place. Slater's first scoring shot was an edged four through where a second slip would have been.

Anil Kumble opened at the other end. Again, a decision that could lead to some debate. For one thing, Kapra had given enough indications that there was movement to be had in the air -- and movement both in the air and off the track is precisely Saurav Ganguly's forte. Which seemed reason enough to use him.

More to the point, a spinning track does not necessarily mean that a spinner coming on in the second over will work miracles. Simply because the ball is new, shiny, and next to impossible for a spinner to grip properly in order to get turn. Kumble's initial overs were, thus, straight up and down stuff -- as were Raju's early overs when he was brought in after Harvinder had sent down just three.

What does this do? Helps the openers settle down against the spinners before they can live up to their label and really spin the ball. Which is pretty much what happened here. And the fact that the spinners mostly operated with a field that mixed the offensive with the defensive didn't help matters much either.

The question still remains, how come the Indian spinners failed totally on a track where Warne and Robertson were getting it to turn square?

The answer, if you watch the way Raju, Kumble and Harbajan bowled, lay in one word -- overeagerness. Instead of sticking to what they knew best, they time and again tried too many variations -- with the result that it was not possible for the skipper to set the field either with an off, or leg-side, concentration. For instance, for Kumble, Azhar concentrated on off and the leggie, after four, five good deliveries that either beat the bat or were played defensively, ended up bowling the sixth short, on middle, for Slater and Taylor to pull to the vacant leg side for boundaries.

None of which is to take away from some superb batting from the Australians. Both Taylor and Slater, from the outset, concentrated on just pushing the ball into gaps and racing brisk singles, thus utilising to the full the advantage of having a left-right combination at the crease.

Taylor in particular was in immaculate touch -- his strokeplay assured, his shot selection close to perfection, and his patience commendable as he waited for the fractional error in line and length before putting the ball away to the fence (his unbeaten 102 containing as many as 17 boundaries).

Ironically, it was Man of the Series Tendulkar who got the break-through. With as perfect a leg break as you want to see. It was pitched off and middle, just the right length to draw Slater forward in defense, the ball turning and taking the edge to have Azhar hold catch number 101.

Blewett's miserable series continued -- confirming, incidentally, his rating as highly suspect against spin. This time round, he fell yet again to the Kumble flipper, going right back, beaten by the accelerated pace off the track to get the ball bang on the back pad in front of off stump.

And that was pretty much that. Mark Waugh, with an unbeaten century under his belt, joined his skipper to shut the door on any hope the home side had of pulling this one back.

Both batted with supreme confidence, shrugged off the odd occasions when Tendulkar -- who really impressed with his leg spin, though his lack of practise with this type of delivery showed when he lost control of the odd one and pitched too full or too short -- Raju and Kumble beat the bat, and concentrated on seeing Australia through.

Taylor, in the process, got to his century, scoring more than half the team's total in a knock of undiluted confidence. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy -- Taylor, calm, collected and reasonable, has done more than an entire diplomatic corps could have, to erase the stereotypical image of the "ugly Aussie" -- cricketwise, that is.

India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy -- leading 3-1 in the four Tests played since its inception. But given the kind of competition this series has produced (and it has been tight, despite the one-sided appearance of the scorelines), the thought one is left with is a wistful longing that the boards of the two countries would schedule more frequent match-ups, both home and away, between the two sides. And -- hey, when wishing, you might as well shoot for the moon, right? -- that the tours, as and when, go the full, five-Test, distance.

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