Krittivas Mukherjee

Kolkata, March 15:

The drawn Test at Mohali has wiped out any advantage that India enjoyed in the current series against Pakistan and the two teams go into the second Test at the Eden Gardens here on Wednesday evenly poised. If anything, it is the visitors who have come away with something positive from the first Test that saw fantastic rearguard batting by them on the last day of the match. For four days India remained in the driver’s seat and looked like winning the Test, but the resolute batting of the Pakistani middle-lower order helped them script an incredible fight back. But India insists that Pakistan doesn’t come into the match with any mental upper hand. Rather, coach John Wright likes to believe that the lost opportunity would make his boys more hungry for a victory.

“It was disappointing to get to a situation where we could have won but didn’t manage to. But now the boys would be even more hungry for the result we wanted,” Wright said. Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, however, isn’t interested in going back into history. “I don’t like to talk much about what’s history. What we did in Mohali is history. Now we want to move on to the next one.” But the Mohali result would be playing on the minds of both teams, and Indian captain Sourav Ganguly would still be trying to figure out if having a second spinner in Harbhajan Singh would have brought him victory as suggested by many. The Eden Gardens wicket, which traditionally has been a batsman’s delight, looks surprisingly green and this has fuelled speculation that India would retain the three pacer and one spinner bowling composition.

But Ganguly would also have to reckon with the fact that Harbhajan Singh has always bowled well on this wicket. So it is not known for sure if the green grass on the wicket would be around till the start of play on Wednesday. Both coaches have said there was a possibility of going into the match with five specialist bowlers. If that happens, one could expect the grass to be nipped off. Woolmer said there were chances that Pakistan could start with five bowlers because of the hot and sultry conditions. “It’s hot and humid and dehydration could take its toll. So, I think there are chances both teams would go I with five bowlers.” But Woolmer has ruled out making drastic changes in the team.

Besides the match itself, the Eden Gardens Test has additional interests as it could witness history being created on several counts. For one, Sachin Tendulkar could get his 35th Test hundred, something he missed by a whisker in Mohali where he was out on 94. He is also only a few runs away from joining the club of 10,000 Test-run makers. The Eden Test would also be West Indian umpire Steve Bucknor’s 100th Test match — the first person to achieve the feat. The Cricket Association of Bengal has made arrangements to felicitate Steve Bucknor, and indeed Sachin Tendulkar too if he reaches the personal milestone.