India chase -- and catch -- vindication in Kandy

"It is just a matter of one afternoon," Rahul Dravid told my colleague, Faisal Shariff, when we asked him about Saurav Ganguly's lack of form, the storm in the media, and Raj Singh Dungarpur's ill-timed statement that Dravid should get ready to take over the captaincy. "One afternoon, one good knock, and all the noise will stop."

Today -- day four of the second Test at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy -- was that afternoon. And Ganguly, who even in his first innings knock had looked like returning to form, provided the knock. That it took India across the threshold of a victory -- only the third time in its history, incidentally, that India has won chasing over 250 in the final innings -- was the icing.

That statement could raise hackles -- that Ganguly's knock was the real thing, the win being merely icing. But if you take a long-range point of view, that could well be the way to look at it. India faces a very long, arduous season, and the highlights are easily the away series against South Africa, the home series against England, the away series against the West Indies, et al.

For the team, therefore, it was vital that the storm of abuse be stilled, that the captain become, once again, an authority figure -- and not some kind of windmill for the Dungarpurs of this world to tilt against.

Which explains my prioritisation, of the Ganguly innings followed by the Test win. The second has immediate consequences, the first could be vital over the long run.

The day began with India needing 209 on a pitch that has suffered the normal attrition of three days of Test cricket, including some infringements by the boots of various bowlers on the danger area. There was occasional variable bounce, and lots of turn. Add to it, the fact that there was a heavy overcast on the fourth morning, and you are talking conditions that are superb for seam bowlers.

It is also worth keeping in mind that India took out nine Sri Lankan wickets cheap with seam -- a task that was even harder than it looked because the Lankans were on a roll, the force was with them, and India in contrast had sunk lower than its own bootstraps.

India played it just right. Overnight not outs Rahul Dravid and Sadagopan Ramesh could so easily have allowed the target, the pressure, get to them and opted for dogged defence. Instead, both looked for opportunities to score.

Interestingly, it was the normally flamboyant Ramesh who, yet again in this series, seemed content to play the quieter role. And if his docility and determination to hang around are indications that he has rethought his attitude to batsmanship, it could be a very good sign.

By contrast, Dravid's demotion to number six by Laxman appears to have ignited some fire deep within him -- ever since his slipping down the order, the Indian vice captain has shown a willingness to shrug off his own self-imposed shackles, and to play the shots he is capable of.

This morning, Dravid held the key. He was comfortable against pace, which is not in itself worthy of mention. But what stood out was his felicity against the spin of Muthiah Muralitharan. Where, earlier, he has been content to defend, to concentrate on keeping the offie away from his stumps, this time round Dravid seemed intent on laying the Murali ghost.

The first 18 deliveries that Murali bowled to him, thus, yielded 28 runs.

Dravid, though, was lucky to survive an LBW appeal when the offie straightened one on the angle into off stump, and hit the back pad in line. Home umpire Vijayawardene, standing in his debut Test, ruled against -- and gave Dravid, 36 off 38 at the time, a lucky break.

Dilhara Fernando, coming on as second change for the morning, finally produced the breakthrough off the fourth ball of his first over, when he angled one across Ramesh's (31 off 105) off stump. The left-handed opener looked to force square, the ball kicked higher than he had bargained for and off the top edge, flew high to slip for Jayasuriya to pull down the overhead catch in style.

Saurav Ganguly joined his vice-captain -- and Dravid noticeably stepped up his shotplay. The most significant shot during this period was not the drives on either side off Muralitharan, but the vicious pull Dravid aimed at Vaas when the Lankan seamer attempted to bounce him.

Dravid's fluency, and the fact that he was chipping away at the target and bringing it ever closer, allowed Ganguly the luxury of taking his time to settle in. The Lankan pacers helped, by losing the plot and bouncing Ganguly too often -- the Indian captain, thus, being afforded the luxury of watching them sail harmlessly by while he got the fidgets out of his system and settled down.

Once Ganguly settled, the game changed complexion yet again. Till that point, there was always the what-if: What if Dravid went to the unplayable delivery that can come to anyone, any time? India would then be left with an off colour captain, a nervous and inexperienced middle order, and a wobbly tail.

That combination has, in the past, proved disastrous for India's chances -- vide the 67 or so times the team has chased 250 or more in the final innings, succeeding only twice. Brittleness is the middle name of the Indian middle order, and Lanka till that point were in with a very good chance.

It turned in a Fernando over. A bouncer came along, and Ganguly swayed away where earlier, he had been ducking like a Dighe. The next ball was fullish and just outside off and Ganguly, moving just enough to leg to give himself some working room, blazed it through coverpoint for a trademark four.

And from that point on, runs began coming -- in a hurry what is more -- from both ends.

Ganguly was -- or so it appeared -- lucky when he cut Vaas hard immediately after lunch, and Muralitharan dived at point, got a hand to the stinging hard catch, but failed to hold on. Perhaps Ganguly was lucky -- in a different way, because that was another instance of the bowler overstepping without the umpire noticing it.

The two added 91 runs in the space of 157 deliveries, before Muralitharan finally got a wicket. Dravid -- who till that point had defended superbly against Murali's big-turning off breaks -- for once misread the length on a ball he padded to. The ball hit the pad high, ricocheted onto the glove and from there, to silly point, ending an innings of 75 off 123 deliveries that really set it up for India.

At that point, Ganguly was on 48 off 93. Mohammad Kaif joined him, and Ganguly took complete charge, driving with the fluency of yore, shrugging off bouncer wars by Vaas and Fernando, and focussing on seeing the team through.

Had Ganguly got the century, it would have been in the fitness of things -- his game today was almost flawless. But in a little moment of comedy at the end, Mohammad Kaif got a ball down the leg side, instinctively flicked at it, and then watched stunned as the ball raced to the boundary. It was the winning hit, but Kaif looked as if he wished he hadn't hit it.

At the other end, his captain, unbeaten on 98, flashed a wry grin -- then took off his glove and held up his hand towards his team-mates.

India, for the second time in the last three series, had come back from defeat to square a series. That it has done so this time without the services of Tendulkar, Laxman, Nehra, Kumble, Srinath et al, is probably the best thing that could have happened to the youngsters who have stepped into the breach.

There are some figures that could prove to have a bearing on the Test that remains in this series.

One relates to Muralitharan. Dravid faced 76 deliveries from the offie, and took 44 runs off him. And Ganguly, for his part, took 29, off the 30 deliveries he faced. Till this point, the Indians have treated Murali with the kind of caution that would have been more appropriate were the offie wearing battle fatigues and saying it with hand grenades. Today, they played him on the merits of the delivery, repeatedly stepped back to force him square, and ensured that he was never allowed to settle down to any kind of rhythm.

Another relates to Ganguly's handling of the seamers who have tormented him thus far: versus Vaas, 19 deliveries for 8 runs but more significantly, against Dilhara Fernando who has been the one designated to bounce the Indian skipper to perdition, 40 runs off 67 deliveries faced, including seven good boundaries. The Indian captain needed to exorcise that personal demon and prove to himself that he could stand up to the pace barrage -- today, he took the first step towards doing it.

The final figure relates to partnerships -- something India has lacked in the two innings of the first Test, and the first innings of this one. Here, every single wicket came for a price: 42 for the first wicket, 61 for the second, 91 for the third, and an unbeaten 70 for the fourth. Equally, each partnership occupied significant time at the crease.

Cumulatively, the Indians appear to have set themselves up nicely for the third Test, which begins this Wednesday. Thus far, this team under Ganguly is yet to lose a series. Given the nature of Lankan wickets, a draw seems unlikely -- unless the home side decides to play safe and come up with a batting beauty of the sort that saw a world record total being achieved during India's last visit here.

A team on the way back up, against a team halted in mid-stride -- it could prove to be an interesting contest.

In passing, Saurav Ganguly was given the man of the match -- for his bowling in the first innings, which produced the breakthrough just when India badly needed one, and went on to lay down the line and length the Indian seamers adhered to from there on, for his batting in the second innings, and for the leadership that saw India achieve a rare win chasing 250-plus.

Raj Singh Dungarpur would be hugely pleased.

Detailed Scorecards:

India 2nd Innings
SL 2nd Innings
SL 1st Innings
India 1st Innings