Australia's India Tour 12th October

End of Day 4 : Australia 430/10 & 193/5
India : 360/10

Finally today India’s tail was dismissed but not before the lion hearted Zaheer Khan scored his fifty. The way the tail batted clearly showed that the team is fighting to the core and they will not give in easily.

The second innings of Australia began with Anil Kumble not coming on to field and Dhoni in charge. Whether that or the fact that the tail got so many runs there was a sudden spring in the stride of the Indians and the early wicket of Mathew Hayden again sparked things. There was a buzz around the Sunday crowd involved and Ponting into bat while Harbhajan was already bowling made for great atmosphere. Gautam Gambhir made a costly mistake when he dropped a relatively easy catch of Simon Katich at a time when the momentum was just shifting.

Ponting was smartly trapped by Ishant with some imaginative field placing by Dhoni for 17. However the sponge like character of Micheal Hussey and Simon Katich ensured that they absorbed all the pressure and also ensured that there was no panic and calmed the nerves of the Australian dressing room.

Kumble stayed off the ground for about a 100 minutes and talks of a shoulder injury and he not playing in the series started. He came on to bowl his discomfort visible. This can be a big blow for the Indians so far he has not picked any wickets.

Harbhajan than came good to pick up Katich with one that suddenly bounced, and Hussey with a beauty. Although later replays showed that the one that got Hussey appeared to have hit a crack. Clark was again out cheaply thanks to another slower one by Ishant Sharma. The two pacers have bowled very well and stuck it out, just fear at times and hope these two don’t get injured. Especially with back to back test matches.

At the end of the days play Brad Haddin & Shane Watson seemed to have taken Australia to relative safety. Kumble again seemingly resorting to the fielders at the boundaries. It seems he was setting similar fields to that of Ponting which is really strange. This is his last chance as captain to put one across the Aussies and defense will not help him. However as we approach day 5 all three results are possible depending on when Australia declare. However have a sneaking thought that Australia will not declare before they feel safe as there is a Virendra Sehwag lurking and he always makes the job of the opposing captain very difficult.