A sad feeling to see our victory streak come to an end

That’s cricket for you, a funny game that can turn around dramatically in a matter of hours. The Test was quite amazing really, and when we made India follow-on with a lead of 274 in hand, nobody would have thought we would end up on the losing side. It also is quite disappointing to be the last man out. I had batted out 10 overs with Kasprowicz and I was feeling pretty good in the middle. Later, when I saw the replays of my dismissal I was quite happy with the shot I played because I thought the ball would turn a fair bit. I tried my best and I guess it was not good enough today. It reminded me of our defeat against South Africa in 1994, where I was the last man out and we lost by five runs. Here too, I wanted to bat out the remaining overs to save the game and we almost got there.

It’s obviously quite a sad feeling to see our victory streak come to an end. We knew that it would have had to end sooner or later, but we would definitely have preferred later.

Basically the Test showed what one partnership can do -- it can decide the fate of the game. VVS Laxman’s innings was the best innings I’ve seen. He was batting in a pressure situation and his knock can be compared to Lara’s effort in West Indies two summers ago. I did not see the knock Brian Lara played in Sydney to get 277, but Laxman’s knocks were better than Lara’s effort in West Indies two summers ago. What made Laxman so special was the way he timed the ball so well and gave the bowlers no chance. The first change he gave was at 281 when he got out and that speaks volumes about the quality of the innings he played here. Another remarkable feature of his effort was the fact that he looked at ease right through though his team was up against it when he came in to bat. We always rated Laxman very highly, after all he has around 10 centuries in the last domestic season.

We will have to study his game and come up with a plan at Chennai. We have already picked up a few things here, and we will work out our strategy in the next couple of days.

Many experts have been wondering whether Colin Miller would have made a difference to the side, but I have my doubts. I think the pitch really started turning only in the last day, and in my opinion only in the last session. Besides we reckoned that the best way to beat the Indians was with pace, and we have been successful three out of four times.

A special word for Harbhajan Singh’s mammoth effort here. In the absence of Anil Kumble he has been given the task of shouldering most of the attack. The youngster is definitely relishing the opportunity and looks quite promising. He has spin as well as bounce, which will definitely help him even on pitches outside the subcontinent. Harbhajan got a promotion from his employees Indian Airlines after his remarkable hat trick in the first innings. After his effort in the second innings we reckon he would have got another promotion and might even be flying us all the way to Chennai! On a more serious note, he got a great deal of spin out of the pitch after tea on the first day itself, a great achievement considering none of the other spinners could do much on this pitch.

We have to now look forward to the Chennai Test. It’s good to have a game like this because it will lift our game in the next outing. It reminds us what it is like to lose and the pressure will be useful to spur us on in the next Test. We need to take some positives out of this game and ensure that we lift our game as we ready ourselves for the Indians next time.

(Gameplan)

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