India settle for 1-0, instead of going for a sweep against England as the 2nd Test in Mohali meanders to a tame draw.
Gautam Gambhir missed getting a century in each innings, Yuvraj Singh once again showed his penchant for punishing Stuart Broad, Harbhajan Singh hit a reverse-sweep for four and Mahendra Dhoni bowled an over. One was left looking for the small pleasures of the game after a dull final day of the second Test, which ended in a draw.
What could have been an interesting match became a pain largely because fog and bad light robbed the match of virtually a full day’s play. India, however, had the satisfaction of climbing up to the number two position in the ICC rankings with a 1-0 win in the two-Test series.
The writing was on the wall as soon as Gambhir and Yuvraj came in to bat despite a 150-minute delay as they were already 285 ahead with 68 overs scheduled for the day. The two recent instances of high fourth innings targets being chased in Tests would have weighed on the team management’s mind. South Africa made a successful bid in chasing 414 against the formidable Aussies at Perth and India themselves breezed through in their chase of 387 in the first Test at Chennai last week.
“I thought we have had a tough series here. The first Test at Chennai was very interesting, and had we got the normal 90 overs a day in this match, this one would have gone down to the wire too,” said Kevin Pietersen, whose team was set to fly out of the city on a chartered flight to catch a connecting flight from Dubai.
“We competed well against a team that is at the top of its game and I thoroughly enjoyed playing here,” said Pietersen.
One can not blame the Indian team for not putting a series win at risk. Knowing skipper Mahendra Dhoni, he would have been game for a declaration had there been a third Test in the series, but he was happy to settle for his first draw as captain in five matches.
Gambhir fell three short of completing his second century of the match, bringing about the Indian declaration. Gambhir, who struck 179 in the first innings, batted for well over five hours striking six fours off 229 balls for his 97. The left-hander showed his ability to build partnerships once more, adding 153 for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj after being involved in a 314-run stand with Rahul Dravid in the first innings. Gambhir thus won his first ‘man of the match’ award in Tests.
England finished the day at 64-1 in 28 overs, as the match was called off early with no result in sight, but only after Dhoni had bowled the last over of the match with VVS Laxman keeping wickets.
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