Ganguly, Sehwag on song

"It is all a matter of one single afternoon, one batting stint stretching through a session or two, one century, and all the criticism will be silenced, " said a senior teammate of beleaguered skipper Sourav Ganguly when he was struggling to find form.

Ganguly found a rather conspicuous afternoon, with the grey skies threatening to stall proceedings for the day, to reach his first Test ton since 1999 and silence the critics.

In the process, India finished the day -- interrupted by showers and deteriorating light -- at 319 for 6 in the first innings, with skipper Ganguly on a well-compiled, unbeaten 135 runs, after having promoted himself to number three.

Despite being just 10 runs short of Zimbabwe's first innings total, the second Test at the Ferozshah Kotla ground seems to be on an even keel.

If Zimbabwe can snap up the remaining four Indian wickets in the morning session of the fourth day, they can sum up some quick runs and put India in trouble while batting in the fourth innings.

On the other hand, if Ganguly piles up the runs with support from the lower order and unleashes spinners Kumble and Harbhajan at the Zimbabweans with a lead of 125-150 runs, it would make for an interesting Test.

Indian innings:

Sourav Ganguly, searching for his elusive maiden Test ton as skipper, played the morning session with extreme caution. Under dark, gloomy clouds, he did not contemplate even a calculated risk.

The free-spirited Virendra Sehwag was at the other end of the spectrum, throwing caution to the wind and keeping the fielders busy.

In the 15 overs bowled in the morning session before bad light stopped play, India had added 34 runs to the total, taking it to 204/4.

Ganguly had added a mere seven runs to his overnight score of 78 while Sehwag did the bulk of the scoring, taking 26 runs in the morning to breeze to 43 runs off 76 balls. India still trailed by 158 runs.

Zimbabwe had the timely break to decide if they would take the new ball which was due to them and make use of the overcast conditions to scalp some quick wickets. Carlisle had earlier taken the new ball on two occasions in the series and paid the price for it.

After a 15-minute rain delay, Carlisle took the new ball and Ganguly rocked back to send Watambwa to the mid-wicket fence. Sehwag drove Friend through the covers in the next over for a four and the decision to take the new ball rankled Zimbabwe.

Bad light stopped play yet again and the players took early lunch.

Post Lunch session:

The short 25-minute session after the break was an orchestra; it resumed with Sehwag's 50 and ended with Ganguly reaching his long-awaited century from the last delivery before tea.

Sehwag got to his second Test fifty with a flowing boundary through the on-side in the very first over and followed it up with an inside out drive immaculately positioned through the gap for four.

Playing in front of his home crowd, the dashing Sehwag seemed to have used the outing to practise his strokes for the upcoming tours later in the year. The array of strokes on display was awe-inspiring; the placement meticulous. The method in which he handled spinner Ray Price was laudable, attacking the left-arm spinner every time he pitched the ball on the rough patch. With some homework on playing outside the off-stump, Sehwag is a finished product ready for greatness.

The attention then shifted to skipper Ganguly's long-awaited Test hundred. At the stroke of tea, the southpaw swiveled 180 degrees, directing Streak to the fine-leg fence to reach his eight Test ton; his first after 23 Tests.

But, most importantly, it was a hundred under pressure on a difficult strip that even Sachin Tendulkar failed to decipher. One surprising feature of the innings was the percentage of runs he scored through the leg-side - 67. For a man whose celestial play through the offside was his strength, to score a hundred, with the bulk of his runs coming through the leg-side, was worthy of a standing ovation.

Last session:

Ganguly, with the hundred under his belt and the pressure released, tore into Price, cracking him for three consecutive boundaries through the offside in the same over. Back were the crisp square-cuts, the audacious drives with the addition of the pull-shot to his gamut of strokes.

Sehwag, finally losing his concentration, flashed at Streak outside off for Andy Flower, standing at first slip, to grass an easy chance. But, Streak deservedly had his man of the very next ball, trapping him plumb in front for 74, which was laced with 16 boundaries. India, at that stage, were 264/5 in the 94th over.

The crucial partnership between Sehwag-Ganguly (120 runs of 33 overs) sailed India to a respectable total after Tendulkar departed last evening with the score at 142/3.

First Test centurion Sanjay Bangar tapped Heath Streak on the off side and scampered for a single which Ganguly refused. Stuart Carlisle cleanly picked and threw the ball to 'keeper Tatenda Taibu and Bangar was the victim of another example of injudicious running between the wickets.

India ended the day at 319/6 off 114 overs, still 10 runs short of the Zimbabwean total. Ganguly, unbeaten on 135, had Anil Kumble, batting on 19, for company.

Batting slumps are hardly unique. Tiger Pataudi, arguably India's finest captain ever, once went 44 innings and four years without a century. More recently, Australian skipper Steve Waugh -- being rated the best batsman of today and the one you would back to bat for your life -- has gone 17 innings without a Test 50, as has England captain Nasser Hussain. Michael Atherton, former captain of England, went 16 innings without a Test 50. And famously, Sunil Gavaskar -- scorer of the second largest number of Test runs and the most number of Test centuries in cricket history - once hit a lean trot extending to 18 consecutive innings.

Thus, if it was merely a question of a batting low, Ganguly has quelled the skeptics. His true test though lies in facing the chin-music in the forthcoming tour of the West Indies.

A real leader faces the music, even when he doesn't like the tune.

Earlier report
Day 1: Ebrahim, Andy Flower prop Zimbabwe Day 2: Zimbabwe take honours on Day 2

Zimbabwe 1st Innings: Detailed Scorecard

The complete coverage of the Zimbabwe tour of India