Fourth Test, India versus West Indies, Antigua

Laxman, Ratra thwart Windies

Day Two

A very, very selective hundred by Laxman and his record-breaking 205-run partnership for the seventh wicket with wicketkeeper Ajay Ratra put India in the driver's seat with an imposing total of 462-6 on Day 2 of the fourth Test against the West Indies at St John's, Antigua. With the wicket taking turn, an early declaration by India on Sunday could pave the way for a win with legspinner Anil Kumble back in the ranks.

Morning Session:

The Indian batsmen dug themselves into a hole, squandering the chance of piling up an unassailable first innings total on the second morning of the Antigua Test by losing overnight batsmen Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid within the first hour of play.

The previous evening West Indian skipper Carl Hooper had speculated that if his bowlers could restrict the Indians to 375 on the second day, he would be a satisfied man. He also cautioned that a couple of good deliveries in the morning could, however, make even 300 seem a distant dream for the visitors.

Ganguly and Dravid walked out to start the proceedings and after scoring three runs in the first over of the morning lost the plot and allowed the West Indian bowlers to bowl consecutive maidens and build up the pressure.

Ganguly decided to push the scoring rate and slashed hard at a short ball from Cameron Cuffy only to be caught at point by Wavell Hinds. India had lost its fourth wicket for the addition of seven runs to the overnight total and with only V V S Laxman, the last recognised batsman to follow, seemed in danger of not touching the 300-run mark.

Dravid had collected cobwebs on his bat failing to push the ball around and rotating the strike. It is intriguing how a batsman with 80-plus runs against his name can suddenly struggle to score.

Three overs after Ganguly's dismissal, Dravid, who had been playing away from his body all morning, dragged a wide delivery from Mervyn Dillon back on to his stumps. Dravid sat back on his haunches for a few moments ruing another Test ton gone abegging. This was the fifth occasion in Tests he had been dismissed in the nineties.

Batting time out in Tests is important, but scoring runs still stays the prime objective. Dravid let the pressure build on him and Ganguly by not pushing the scoring rate or rotating the strike and lost the momentum essential for a huge total.

At 235-5, India had gifted the game away to the hosts on a platter. The first hour of play had fetched a mere 16 runs for the loss of two wickets, though the Windies bowling had been more disciplined than penetrative with the wicket not offering much lateral movement to the bowlers.

Anil Kumble sent ahead of keeper Ajay Ratra was soon welcomed back into Test cricket -- after sitting out the second and third of the five-Test series -- with a short-pitched delivery from Mervyn Dillon. Taking his eyes off the ball, Kumble was struck under his left jaw, shaking him up. After being attended to by team physio Andrew Leipus, Kumble spat blood, pulled his helmet back on and took guard again.

Dillon bending his back had a couple of short balls hurtling at Kumble's chin resulting in his dismissal soon after. Fending at a similar ball, Kumble offered a simple chance to Chanderpaul at backward short leg (257-6).

Laxman, in danger of being stranded at one end, put together a short partnership with 'keeper Ajay Ratra and saw the rest of the session off without any further damage. India went into lunch at 272-6 having added 46 runs in the 25 overs bowled in the morning session.

Post-lunch Session:

Laxman's self-counselling proved effective as he batted with a firm resolve after lunch along with Ajay Ratra. With scores of 69, 69, 74, 1 and 43 in the series coming into this Test, Laxman has grabbed his place back in the side after Virendra Sehwag was preferred to him in the home series against the Zimbabweans.

Laxman pushed the Indian total towards the 300-run mark after lunch with consecutive boundaries off an Adam Sanford over. After Ratra picked up three runs off the first delivery, Laxman tore into the Antiguan bowler, playing him past mid-off for a four and then smashing the next delivery straight past the bowler for another boundary.

Ratra, giving commendable support to Laxman, symbolised grit. Despite his limited ability with the bat, the 'keeper dug his heels deep in after he was almost dropped for the Test for Deep Dasgupta on the basis of the latter's batting ability. The Haryana player kept the scoreboard moving, pulling and driving courageously. At one stage he overtook his partner Laxman before the Hyderabadi stroke maker stepped up a gear to zoom ahead.

Rocking onto the back foot, Laxman drove Cuffy to the cover fence to take India past the 300-run mark.

On India's last tour of South Africa, the legendary Graeme Pollock, when asked about Laxman's lack of foot movement, dismissed the Indian journalists saying that a still head, perfect balance and sublime timing more than made up for that deficiency. Today his mind and feet worked as one, helping Laxman notch up his fourth half-century of the series. This one was, however, spiked more with application than with boundaries.

An eighty-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Laxman and Ratra opened the release valve to the tension that had engulfed the Indian dressing room after the quick dismissals of Ganguly and Dravid in the morning. The Indian innings was steady, though a tad slow, with a mere 65 runs being scored in 32 overs in the post-lunch session. But Laxman and Ratra walked back into the pavilion at tea having put India in a position from where they would have to play very badly to lose the Test.

Laxman clapped all the way to the dressing room applauding the knock Ratra had played even as the wicketkeeper's uncertainty morphed into confidence to enable him to score 38 useful and unbeaten runs.

Post-tea Session:

Laxman took the giant leap in his career on a lazy Antiguan afternoon scoring his third Test century -- his second on foreign soil -- and bailing India out of trouble. Most international batsmen rate a century in the Caribbean as their best. Not so for the Hyderabadi genius whose two earlier centuries -- 167 at Sydney and 281 at Kolkata against the Australians -- would rank leagues above this one. A fact that speaks volumes of the talent he possesses.

Pulling Dillon to the mid-wicket fence, Laxman scored a most uncharacteristic century sans the usual flair that accompanies his innings. Despite possessing the snappy wrists of a ringmaster, Laxman appeared subdued, but never once got bogged down by the bowlers. Never failing to punish an erring line, he guided Ratra and India to a position of complete dominance.

After tea, Laxman completed his century stand with Ratra and then decided to cut loose, pulling Sanford for a six over mid-wicket. Ratra then stole a quick single to register his maiden Test fifty and put to rest the wicket-keeping issue, at least for the rest of the season.

With the third new ball a few overs away Hooper shared the old ball with Ramnaresh Sarwan and all hell broke loose. Laxman danced down the wicket and smashed Sarwan straight over his head for a four. In the next over he pulled Hooper and crashed the ball into the advertising boards. Looking to score a boundary off every delivery Laxman then cut Sarwan in the following over for yet another four and off the very next ball marched into the nineties with a stunning straight drive down the ground.

The Indian scoring rate after tea had soared to almost four an over with the total heading for the 450-run mark. Batting had never looked easier through the series than in this session of play with the Laxman-Ratra combine plundering runs off a weary West Indian attack.

The acceleration of the Indian innings through the day was a study; the morning session fetched 46 runs off 25 overs, the afternoon session got 65 off 32 overs and the evening session raised 125 runs off 33.

As the sun set on his day, Laxman pushed Ratra, who was nearing his maiden Test century, to play with caution and kept giving him the strike in a bid to help him reach the coveted mark before close of play. Ratra motored into the nineties, in the process bringing up the 200 runs of his partnership with Laxman.

The session seemed surreal for the ease with which the Indian duo picked up runs. The last hour, especially, belonged to the young wicket-keeper who cut Collins to third-man for a couple to surpass his highest first-class score of 77. With Ganguly refusing to declare and force the West Indian openers to cope with a dicey few overs, Ratra pulled and drove the bowlers around the ground to end the day unbeaten on 93.

India ended the day at 462-6 off 180 overs with Laxman undefeated on 124 and Ratra seven short of his maiden Test century.

Scoreboard