Nagpur Test Even as Tendulkar, Krejza Share Honours

India will have mixed feelings about this day. While the honours were perhaps evenly shared at the end of the day, there is a sense of nostalgia for both teams.

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While India will be bemoaning the virtual end of an epoch making couple of decades with Anil Kumble watching from the sidelines, Sourav Ganguly playing his final Test, Rahul Dravid approaching perhaps his, V.V.S. Laxman making his 100th memorable and Sachin Tendulkar showing the decades of experience in his fortieth Test century, the Australians are also realizing that their era of world champion team is also seeing the expected wear and tear.

Nagpur was the venue of the final Test and Sourav Ganguly would have had bitter sweet memories of it. But all that is in the past. What mattered now was ensuring that India pushed for victory and did not let a sloppy Australia get away with the series and the trophy.

India were dealt a severe blow when Gautam Gambhir's one Test ban was upheld. But the manner in which the Indian openers began, it appeared the selectors had indeed followed the maxim - strike while the iron is hot. M. Vijay let Virender Sehwag do the bulk of the scoring but was no less fluent in his shot making. While experts were wary of labelling him an instant success given the nature of the pitch, his selection was vindicated in that the openers got off to a near century start.

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But then it suddenly seemed to fall apart before lunch. Scoring at over five runs an over, suddenly India lost three wickets for less than twenty runs. The wickets beginning with Vijay also included the rather sorrowful dismissal of Rahul Dravid as well.

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Then came about the monumental partnership between Tendulkar and Laxman that once again set India in the right direction. The partnership appeared so ominous that even the star performer for the Australians, Jason Krezja, who the Australian skipper Ricky Ponting would feel, in hindsight, should have been inducted long before this match, had to take a backseat.

Tendulkar's century was painstaking in the end in the nervous nineties as he conjured his final ten runs with the solitude motive of getting to his fortieth Test century. It had perhaps slowed India down as well in that respect but it was important for one player to convert his effort in the field to greater effect after Virender Sehwag virtually gifted his wicket away as did Laxman again on the threshold of greatness.

But Australia would be entirely upset at the end of the day’s play. They had after all managed to scalp Tendulkar lbw to a rather wayward Mitchell Johnson. But Tendulkar’s innings should have folded long ago if the Australians stayed a little more astute in the field and alert to their task. Dropped catches from Johnson and Brett Lee made Tendulkar’s knock fortuitous in the end. But if greatness makes its own luck, this innings will only be remembered for Tendulkar’s fortieth century only on a day when the match is still a wide open field.