First Test ends in a draw at Ahmedabad

The first Test between India and Srilanka held at Ahmedabad ended in a draw. The flat surface provided for this Test match was a poor advertisement for Test Cricket. I hope the pitch for the next Test match is result producing one.

Scorecard: India vs Srilanka, I Test, Ahmedabad, 2009

Rahul Crosses 11,000 Runs

Rahul Dravid crossed 11,000 runs in Test Cricket when he made 177 runs in the first innings. He scored his runs when both the pitch condition and match situation were tough and challenging. He was ably supported by Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni. He constructed century partnerships with both of them to build a reasonable score for the team.

Srilankan Batting

Srilankans enjoyed the best of the batting conditions. All their batsmen had starts. Dilshan made a quick hundred. Both the Jayawardene’s capitalized on the good starts provided by their top order batsmen and struck together a huge partnership. In his knock of 275, Mahela crossed 9000 Test runs.

India’s Second Innings Batting

The pitch condition was good for batting even on fifth day of the match. But the Indian batsmen started their second innings with 334 runs deficit. Batting to save the match was indeed a challenge before them. Gambhir and Sachin’s tons along with useful contribution from all the other batsmen saved Team India the blushes.

Bowling in India

Kapil and Srinath, the most successful fast bowlers of India, took most of their wickets in unhelpful Indian wickets. But present crop of young Indian fast bowlers seems to do well in seamy and wet conditions and suffers in unhelpful Indian wickets. It is irony considering the fact that they must have booked their place in Indian XI backed on their strong domestic performance. I consider Munaf Patel has the necessary arsenals to produce better results in unhelpful Indian wickets compared to other fast bowlers. Indian selectors erred in not picking him and selecting Sreesanth ahead of him. Infact Munaf should be in the final XI instead of struggling Ishant. One must remember that mode of dismissals for fast bowlers in India are often either bowled or LBW. Though Ishant’s stock delivery is incoming one to the right-hander, he currently lacks form and confidence. It is better he plays few domestic matches to regain form and confidence.