India vs England 5th Day Highlights 1st Chennai Test | Tendulkar Yuvraj
Part 1
Part 2
Update: Sachin & Yuvraj Interviews & Presentation here
Life is great.
Scoreline Today: India win after chasing down 387 in 98.3 overs. Sachin Tendulkar 103. Yuvraj Singh 85. Gautham Gambhir 66.
Brief Highlights also available in Video:
After the 4th day’s play, this blog wondered if Rahul Dravid could seize this day and Tendulkar could exorcise the pain of losing the Chennai Test to Pakistan in 1999. Dravid unfortunately couldn’t while Tendulkar would probably say the 8 year long wait was worth it.
After Virender Sehwag’s 83 yesterday (for which he was given the Man of the Match), India had only one option today – to go for a win. The brilliance of this Tendulkar knock was the different paces and facets to it. At different stages of the game, as long as singles and twos were coming along he went along with that. The moment a bowler made things uncomfortable he would go on the offensive – cuts and fine-over-the-slips shots to pacers and paddle sweeps to Monty Panesar when he adopted a legstump line.
After Gambhir and Laxman had forged crucial partnerships, Yuvraj Singh walked into an onslaught from the English fielders and bowlers, Flintoff in particular. Having got under his skin twice in this tour, it was a decent option. Flintoff was relentless at times imitating Yuvraj’s stiff walk-away from the words – that’s quite a funny moment actually. It worked to a certain extent in that, Yuvraj had just played two spectacular shots to the spinners and in an attempt to not throw it away, curtailed his scoring shots. But the important thing was he stuck around through that phase and played a fantastic knock after that. The presence of Tendulkar also helped (as acknowledged by Yuvraj in a post-match interview). The best part of his knock was that his best moments were against the spinners – a much-discussed chink in his batting.
The final moments were perfect. With Tendulkar close to his hundred and not much of the target left, Yuvraj to rapturous cheers from the crowd, began defending and refusing a third run etc. After a nervy moment, Tendulkar walked up to him and asked him to go for his shots, but you can see Yuvraj saying something of the sort – not a big deal. Soon, India needed 4 runs with Sachin on 99 – a perfect paddle sweep completed both.
Andrew Flintoff stood out starkly in the England bowling attack. Almost like a one-man show. Harmison surprisingly hardly got a bowl. Flintoff tried everything he could, even on one occasion, bowling without using his leading arm – it almost got Gambhir.
Dravid came in at his regular No 3 spot. Though there have been suggestions that he be demoted, on this occasion, it was the best option. In the past, when India were setting a target against the Aussies, Dravid coming down made sense considering his form relative to VVS Laxman. But in a Day 5 situation, the draw option needs to be kept at the back of your mind and the great test batsman that Dravid is, he deserved a shot at holding the innings together, with a whole day to get into form. It didn’t work out today and unless he can produce something in the 2nd test, it would take tremendous resolve on the part of Srikanth to back him for another series. However, considering that no immediate replacement springs to mind, he probably should.
Pre-play: Rahul Dravid and Gautham Gambhir will resume. 256 runs more needed across 3 sessions in quest of the initial target of 387. Virender Sehwag’s brilliant knock yesterday has made a win the foremost option today.
Sachin Tendulkar Videos
Yuvraj Singh Videos
More India vs England Test Highlights
