The roles are almost reversed in this Test as SA gained the upper hand after day 2. India’s celebrity batting line up struggled and had to depend on Sreesanth to reduce the lead to 88 runs. VVS Laxman showed once again that he is not the best player when it comes to batting with the tail at the other end (one more reason why he does not fit into the ODI team?). This was a golden opportunity for Laxman to show that he accelerate when the situation demands it.
Sachin managed his first Test fifty for the year 2006! A century from him against a quality opposition is fast becoming a dream. There is no question the master batsmen continues on a decline. Ganguly failed. Another failure in innings two and a defeat for India will give his critics plenty to complain about. The failure of the Indian batting underscores the fact that the team is way too dependent on Dravid. He fails and India has a collapse in the making. If Viru fails in innings 2 the team will do well to send him the Pathan way to grab some much need practice at the domestic level.
Unless the India bowling can restrict the SA to a small score (which seems unlikely at the moment), India will need all the help it can from the weather to save this Test. On the other hand if India manages to trigger a SA collapse, India should have an achievable target on its hands to once again Test its celebrity batting line up.
Pakora Korner 