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Day 1: India treat huge crowd by humbling Pakistan

By Peter Deeley in Calcutta

IF THE intention of the leaked affidavits in the Pakistan match-fixing investigation was to destabilise the tourists on the eve of this Test against India, the effect was almost cataclysmic.

Pakistan, electing to bat, were 26 for six inside the first 10 overs and seemed destined to eclipse their lowest Test total of 62, against Australia.

In that first hour the ball bounced and seamed considerably and, aided by poor footwork among the top order, Javagal Srinath helped himself to four wickets in 23 balls. Then suddenly the pitch started to behave, became near-placid after lunch and a brave partnership of 84 between Salim Malik and Moin Khan saved the visitors from complete humiliation.

Their earlier indignity was hugely enjoyed by the 85,000 at Eden Gardens and with the promise of Sachin Tendulkar batting today the crowd will not be far short of the 100,000 capacity.

They also enjoyed flinging a few taunts at Javed Miandad, the Pakistan coach, who has called for the whole team to be axed if necessary to save national pride in the midst of the match-fixing investigation.

Eventually Pakistan were bowled out for 185 an hour before the close of the first day. India replied with 26 for one, Venkata Laxman being bowled by Shoaib Akhtar as soon as the tourists persuaded the umpires to change the new ball after nine overs.

This is the first game in the Asian triangular series (also involving Sri Lanka) and it must certainly have been a Test first to see 'India 4 points Pakistan 1 point' flashed up on the giant scoreboard at the close - the system based closely, but not totally, on the County Championship.

Wasim Akram will still be debating whether he made the right decision after winning the toss. With Mushtaq Ahmed going home for treatment to his back, the Pakistan captain went in with three quick bowlers - though Waqar Younis was rested - sensing that pace rather than spin might be the deciding factor.

India, on the other hand, have only their new-ball pair and had to turn to the medium pace of Sourav Ganguly to make up the numbers. In the circumstances, Wasim may have gifted the home side the initiative by not putting them in.

Srinath's first over went for 13 runs but for the next two hours no batsman was comfortable against him or Venkatesh Prasad. Shahid Afridi fenced at late away movement while Saeed Anwar pushed tentatively at one that went through the gate.

Ijaz Ahmed was leaden-footed as ever and paid the price, trapped back on his stumps; debutant Wajahattulah Wasti fell to a ball that darted back and Yousuf Youhana merely wafted at a wide delivery. When Srinath yorked Azhar Mahmood middle stump unwisely trying to attack, he then had figures of 5-1-10-4.

Quietly, though, Malik began to haul Pakistan back from the abyss before a very good ball from Srinath, darting in late, ended a grafting innings of 32 which took him 3.5 hours.

Then, immediately after tea, Tendulkar - a regular partnership-breaker against Pakistan - enticed Moin, on 70, to dab low to slip. Finally, when patience might have been the wiser course, Wasim hit out and was caught in the deep.

Day 2: Akhtar leaves Tendulkar in shock after golden duck

By Peter Deeley in Calcutta

NINETY thousand Calcuttans came in sweltering heat to pay homage to Sachin Tendulkar yesterday. Instead they stayed to gawp as a young roustabout from Rawalpindi, bowling like the wind, uprooted their idol's middle stump as soon as he arrived at the crease.

It was Tendulkar's first golden duck in Test cricket and one of three yorked victims for Shoaib Akhtar, the 23-year-old who Pakistan captain Wasim Akram gambled on in preference to Waqar Younis for this first game in the Asian triangular tournament.

There is more than a touch of the Waqar in Akhtar's swinging toe-cruncher and the senior seamer could only watch in appreciation from the pavilion as his replacement led a remarkable Pakistani recovery on the second day.

Halfway through, India were in full control at 147 for two and Pakistan's gamble on a diet of short-pitched bowling seemed to have back-fired. Then the old ball began to offer reverse swing and, with the first delivery after the mid-session break, Akhtar produced a fast, swinging yorker which flattened Rahul Dravid's leg stump.

Tendulkar came in to a tumultuous reception from the massive crowd. Needing nine runs to reach 5,000 in his 67th Test, he took half a step forward to the next delivery and it curled inside the toe of his bat to send the middle stump cartwheeling.

If the silence on the terraces was almost deafening, Akhtar was doing a good imitation of a dervish dance in the middle. Deservedly so. In two balls, he had just dismissed two batsmen whose Test averages, well over 50, are among the highest in the current game.

Predictably, the next man in, India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, got another yorker from Akhtar but this time the hat-trick ball was sliding well down the leg side. But India's dominance had been broken and Akhtar, in his ninth Test, finished with four for 71, another yorker removing the off stump of his last victim, Venkatesh Prasad.

Pakistan, who have this knack of switching from insipid to inspirational, had taken the last eight wickets for 76 runs and a team who looked buried after one hour of the first day were running around like prize cocks.

Before the premature close because of poor light Pakistan lost their debutant, Wajaratullah Wasti - pushed up the order to his normal position - caught down the leg side to reach 26 for one, 12 runs behind. But first-innings points were evenly spread, five each.

In the final moments the feverish atmosphere on the terraces spread to the middle. Prasad and nightwatchman Saqlain Mushtaq exchanged unpleasantries and South African umpire David Orchard waved a warning finger at wicketkeeper Nayam Mongia for his excessive appealing.

Akhtar is an extrovert character who has been in trouble with previous tour managements in England (during Pakistan A's 1997 tour) and South Africa for breaking curfews and enjoying western night-life. He spent last summer playing in Ireland and came back with a passable Dublin accent and stories of extraordinary evenings in O'Connell Street.

In Durban last year, when Akhtar helped Pakistan beat South Africa, he was rated as quicker than Allan Donald. Wasim believes Waqar was ``as fast in his hey-day but Shoaib's bouncer is much quicker''. Azharuddin, hit on the back of his helmet, will testify to that.

Coming off a 30-yard run in this city's humidity meant that Akhtar could be used only in short bursts before feeling drained. But, as Wasim said: ``His speed means I can bowl containment at the other end.''

Day 3: Saeed carries bat to set up thrilling finale

By Peter Deeley in Calcutta

EDEN GARDENS will be no place for the nervous today when India, all their wickets in hand, set out to score the 275 still needed to overcome arch-rivals Pakistan.

It will be the denouement of a cricketing saga which has held millions transfixed across the subcontinent. Something like 270,000 have already seen at first hand a game of extraordinary fluctuations and yesterday threw up two phenomenal individual performances.

Opener Saeed Anwar carried his bat, only the third Pakistani to do so, and could justly feel peeved at the end that his colleagues had not given him more support.

That they did not is down to one man, Javagal Srinath, - one of the more charming cricketers on the world circuit - who single-handedly cut down Pakistan when they were threatening to run away with the match.

Saeed's unbeaten 188, his eighth Test hundred, was the highest of his career, surpassing the 176 he scored against England at the Oval in 1996.

He batted for 7.5 hours and his runs came off only 260 balls, including 23 boundaries and one six.

He came to this peak off a run of poor form with only 101 runs in his five previous innings in India, including a nought in his first knock here.

Fortune had allowed Saeed to survive on the second evening. On two, the left-hander speared at Srinath and edged to Mohammad Azharuddin at first slip.

The India captain got both hands on the ball but it slipped through his grasp. Little wonder he was off the field for much of yesterday with what was officially described as a sore head.

This was Saeed at his best, cutting and driving square and playing off his legs to such an extent that well over half his runs came from behind the wicket.

While Yousaf Youhana shared in a fourth-wicket stand of 115 in little more than two hours, India were wilting, no one more so than Anil Kumble. After his memorable 10 wickets in an innings in Delhi, his final figures here were one for 138.

When Srinath took the new ball in mid-afternoon, the game took another mad whirl. From 262 for three - at the moment when Yousaf hooked the fast bowler into fine leg's hands - Pakistan lost their last seven wickets for 54 runs.

Srinath's spell was 9.2-1-30-6. He finished with eight in the innings, a personal Test best, and match figures of 13 for 132. He went about it with a quiet professionalism - none of the extreme pace and bustle of Shoaib Akhtar - just putting the ball on the spot and almost making it talk.

After Yousaf, Shahid Afridi went first ball, ducking into a bouncer which flew up off his glove to slip. Salim Malik prodded at the hat-trick delivery but the edge fell short of Sourav Ganguly at second slip, who then had the effrontery to run around appealing for the catch.

Salim soon went leg-before anyway and after that, Pakistan disintegrated, leaving India to face two overs in poor light. The waiting umpires had to send a message to the Indian dressing-room to get the reluctant openers on to the field. They could hardly be blamed, with Shoaib waiting, ball in hand, like a hungry tiger. Two of his bouncers were enough for the umpires to be unanimous in calling a halt.

India opener Sadagopan Ramesh was given a one-match suspended ban yesterday for showing dissent after being given out in the Test against Pakistan.

J Y Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said that Ramesh had been reported by umpire Dave Orchard after being given out leg-before in the first innings. Lele said Ramesh had hesitated at the crease and raised his bat ``indicating that he had made contact with the ball''.

Day 4: Crowd trouble follows run-out of Tendulkar

By Peter Deeley in Calcutta

IT WAS Sachin Tendulkar's wish when this day began to be India's match-winner after his first-innings golden duck against Pakistan.

Instead, after being involved in a freak collision which led to his run out, the man they call here the 'Little Master' became peace-maker for a crowd of 95,000, sections of which had pelted the visiting fielders and brought the game to an abrupt halt.

Tendulkar's extraordinary dismissal stopped India's stroll to victory in its tracks and gave the upper hand to Pakistan. Now this wildly oscillating match is poised for a finish which could outshine all the drama of the first four days.

India, with four wickets in hand, need another 65 runs to win the opening game of the triangular Asian Test Championship. Local boy Sourav Ganguly is still there, accompanied by Anil Kumble. Javagal Srinath is next in and can wield a nifty bat but after that, there is very little to come.

As one who was at Eden Gardens three years ago the night the crowd rioted and India had to forfeit the World Cup semi-final to Sri Lanka, it can emphatically be said this trouble was not on the same scale.

But it is no fun being hit by an orange or a full water bottle and when Shoaib Akhtar, fielding on the boundary at the High Court end, complained to the umpires, they had little choice but to take the players off.

The crowd had become infuriated, not only because they wrongly believed Pakistan had cheated but also because it had robbed them of an innings by Tendulkar tailor-made for the situation.

It was particularly galling because India were in a commanding position. Setting out needing 279 to win, the opening pair of Sadagopan Ramesh and Venkata Laxman had strolled through the morning session and were only separated after lunch after putting on 108.

Though both went to Saqlain Mushtaq, India were already within 145 of their target and the pitch was offering no assistance to the bowlers.

The way Tendulkar began suggested he had scores to settle. Then, facing his 13th ball, he hit Wasim Akram towards the midwicket rope. Substitute fielder Nadeem Khan picked up the ball and fired a return to the bowler's end 75 yards away.

Tendulkar was ambling down for a third run but watching the ball and he did not see that Shoaib had taken up a position directly in his path to retrieve the throw. Equally, Shoaib, his back to Tendulkar, did not know what was behind him - and it was up to the batsman to find a way round.

When Tendulkar hit Shoaib, he instinctively stuck his bat between the fielder's legs and grounded it but the force of the impact brought the bat back up and at that moment the throw hit the stumps.

The third umpire K T Francis had no choice but to give Tendulkar out and it was little consolation for the player that his second run had taken him to 5,000 in Tests.

Shoaib's return to the deep field was all the provocation the crowd needed and after three more balls, the missiles began to rain down.

The game was halted for 66 minutes, including an early tea break, and with riot troops manning the high fences, the ugly mood suggested it might not restart.

But at the request of the local police chief, Tendulkar and International Cricket Council chief Jagmohan Dalmiya did a lap of the boundary, surrounded by a heavy security cordon.

Dalmiya, who is also president of the cricket association here, said afterwards: ``The crowd felt there had been an injustice but there was no violence as such. In fact, they sorted out the few trouble-makers themselves.

``People were holding up placards saying 'Sorry' and Tendulkar was telling them to take the decision sportingly.''

Calcutta police chief, Dinesh Vajpai, said: ``It was very good for Sachin to agree to our request to pacify the crowd.

``Fortunately, we had not allowed the spectators to bring in anything lethal. It's a big relief that the game resumed after some time.''

Shaoib was in the thick of things again as soon as play restarted, getting Rahul Dravid caught off his gloves down the leg side. Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin, too, reached a milestone, his 6,000th Test run, but he did not enjoy Shoaib's speed and was softened up for a catch at short leg off Saqlain.

Then Shoaib had Nayan Mongia leg-before and it was an edgy last hour, in poor light, as the seventh-wicket pair scrambled a precious 24 runs before the umpires decided it was just too dark.

Injured India paceman Javagal Srinath will miss the second Test of the series against Sri Lanka, starting on Wednesday.

Jaywant Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said Srinath would miss the match in Colombo because of a leg injury. ``He requires some treatment and rest because there is some shin pain in one of his legs,'' Lele said.

Srinath has been replaced by left-arm medium-pacer Ashish Nehra.

Day 5: Pakistan succeed in silence

By Peter Deeley in Calcutta

NEARLY 50,000 spectators were ejected by police and soldiers from Eden Gardens yesterday before Pakistan could complete a 46-run win over India in the first Test of the triangular tournament.

A second day of crowd troubles delayed the finish by nearly three hours after Pakistan had taken three more wickets to be within a whisker of victory.

It was probably the first day's Test play held behind closed doors. Only a few hundred VIPs escaped the wrath of the police as they baton-charged the public areas, even dragging away many in the members' seats.

With India's last pair at the crease and another 48 runs wanted, all manner of objects - water-bottles, fruit, rocks and sticks were thrown at the deep fielders.

On the previous day, Sachin Tendulkar's run out when he collided with a fielder had provoked the disturbances. This time, it may simply have been resentment that Pakistan were so close to victory.

The players twice came back to more missile-throwing and police received the approval of Jaghoman Dalmiya, president of International Cricket Council and president of the Bengal association, to remove the crowd.

When the players returned to the unreal atmosphere of an empty ground, it took 10 balls for Shoaib Akhtar to produce another yorker to dismiss the last batsman, Venkatesh Prasad.