England complete the formalities
Faisal Shariff
India registered their tenth defeat at Lord's in 14 encounters, and though there is little to cheer about in a loss, the visitors' balcony was set aflutter with Ajit Agarkar's maiden century.
India's last four wickets had mustered 150 runs and prolonged an inevitable defeat well beyond lunch.
Pushing Simon Jones through the covers and scampering for a single, Agarkar leapt in joy and punched the air, having unburdened a sack of batting failures.
He took a giant leap in his 12-match Test career with the undefeated hundred (109) after cataloging eight Test ducks, which once prompted a teammate to joke that the lanky Mumbaikar had no place in his kit bag with the number of ducks he had collected.
Today Agarkar erased all the humiliation with a rollicking knock, which was spiked with high-quality strokes.
Craig White ended the Indian resistance, after a record 63-run partnership for the tenth wicket between Agarkar and Ashish Nehra, inducing the latter to edge a simple catch to Graham Thorpe at slip, as England recorded a 170-run victory and went a match up in the four-Test series.
India were all out for 397, the highest fourth innings total ever recorded at Lord’s.
Skipper Hussain was adjudged man-of-the-match for his magnificent 155 in the first innings and astute captaincy.
The way India batted on the fifth morning, scoring 121 runs in 28 overs and going into lunch at 353 for 9, made one ask why the rich Indian batting failed to stand up against a second-string assortment of English bowlers, on the flattest of wickets ever seen at Lord's.
Morning session:
Simon Jones bowled the first over of the morning and left-arm spinner Giles tweaked from the Nursery-end with five men around the bat. Hussain was in a hurry -- for victory.
It was a sunny day, but with the English weather as unreliable as WorldCom's balance sheet, Hussain wasn’t going to take any chances. The Indian duo of Laxman and Agarkar made the English attack look pedestrian as runs flowed. Fifteen minutes into the morning and Laxman got to his half-century, flicking Giles off the backfoot down to the mid-wicket fence.
Laxman's form since the West Indies tour -- where he was the star performer for India -- calls for a reassessment of the batting order. To have a batsman in the best of form come in at number six is a serious blunder that India seems to repeat consistently.
Why are only Dravid and Laxman juggled between number three and six, leaving the holy number four and five position reserved blindly for Tendulkar and skipper Ganguly? Number four, by convention, is the position for the best batsman in the side, and let’s admit that Laxman is, on his given form, India’s best batsman and worthy of that position. In the final analysis, reputation doesn't get as many runs as an in-form Laxman does.
Or else, have Laxman go in at number three -- a position, as he recently mentioned in an interview, he best prefers -- and have Dravid bat at number five, ahead of Ganguly, who can drop himself down to number six.
Jaffer, Sehwag, Laxman, Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly look healthier than the current by rote line-up.
Meanwhile,.Laxman danced down the wicket and hoisted Giles into the long-on hoardings to bring up the 100-run partnership with Agarkar, who finally encashed his promise.
With the Indian batsmen looking comfortable, Hussain took the new ball as soon as it was due and Hoggard hurled another snorter of a delivery akin to the one that brought about Dravid’s downfall in the first innings at Laxman. The ball spat viciously at Laxman, taking a touch of his glove and ballooning in the air; Giles, running in from gully, made a futile attempt to take the catch.
Agarkar ultimately morphed his uncertainty into confidence and got his maiden half-century with his ninth four to the square fence. A shy flash of the bat to the dressing room was met with a standing ovation and the batsman realised the worth of the knock, though in a dying cause.
Jones got his first go at the Indians with the second new ball and he made it count. After Laxman stroked him to the long-off fence, he got Laxman scooping a catch to Vaughan at point. Laxman’s 183-minute vigil of 74 had taken India close to the 300 run mark. The dismissal also broke the miniature reprise of the heroic 126-run partnership between Laxman and Agarkar.
Kumble gave Hoggard his fourth wicket, when a leading edge flew back to the bowler, and India’s tail had yet again buckled.
Zaheer Khan found an edge fly through to keeper Stewart, off White, as India lost its ninth wicket for 334. Agarkar though continued unfazed with an unbeaten 80, spiked with a dozen boundaries as India went into lunch at 353 for 9.
