The second test between India and Pakistan at the Eden Gardens meandered towards a draw as the track that was expected to spin, bounce & spit venom turned out to be a batsman’s paradise. It is hard to understand why people complain about tracks that produce three day test matches with bowlers ruling the roost.

Even if such a test match is low scoring, it still ensure top quality cricket, wonderful contest between bat and ball and also gives a RESULT. The fact that these inept batting beauties make sure test matches end up as dull draws are not going to promote the game one bit.

To their credit, Pakistan did play commendable cricket in the match, despite being plagued by injuries and fitness issues, the Pakistani batsmen took it upon themselves to salvage a draw and they delivered for once. The starting of the fourth day saw India resume innings which lasted a good 45 minutes. Saurav Ganguly went past 6000 runs in test cricket on his home turf. India set Pakistan a target of 345 to get in the remainder of the day.

I wonder if India were in the same situation that Pakistan found themselves in, would they have gone for the win. Maybe with their batting strength they would have.

Pakistan seemed intent on salvaging a draw and wasted no time in pulling the shutters down very early. Yasir Hameed went early as he fell to Zaheer and soon the Kamran Akmal followed as captain Kumble castled him over. Kumble soon had Salman Butt trapped in front of the wicket. For a moment it looked as if Indians would wrap things up on the final day. Soon Misbah also saw the road back to the hut as he was bowled by an off-spinner from Munaf Patel. Yes, you read it write. Munaf was never the pace bowler he was supposed to be and the pitch offered no support either.

But then, the Yo-Yo of Pakistan stuck in and they ceased to bat only when the play was called off. Younis Khan was the more aggressive of the two as he scored his century in pristine style. Md. Yousuf was in first gear, maybe lower as he scored a very patient 43. Both of them saw Pakistan safely towards a draw.

The match belonged again to India with only the pitch and poor fielding costing India the match. While dropped chances did hurt India, it still might have been difficult to pull off a victory on that track in 5 days. This kind of tracks will not help bring people in to watch test cricket. People like to see results. Pakistan looks a jaded and already beaten side. It pains to watch the lack of intensity in an India-Pakistan encounter. It has been all India in this series so far and when the caravan moves on to Bangalore for the final showdown, one has no reason to believe that it would be any different.

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