By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
Kolkata(IANS) : Wasim Jaffer’s double century and centuries from V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly gave India complete control of the second cricket Test against Pakistan here Saturday. From here on only one team can win and that won’t be Pakistan who can now only play for a draw.
India declared their first innings at an imposing 616 for five wickets, and then captain Anil Kumble dismissed Yasir Hameed to pose more problems for Pakistan by the close of play on the second day at the Eden Gardens.
At stumps, Pakistan were 50 for one wicket, with Salman Butt on 26 (64 minutes, 55 balls, 4x4s) and stand-in captain Younis Khan on one.
The visitors still need 367 runs to avoid the follow on.
Jaffer, batting on 192 overnight, duly completed his second double century (202, 401 minutes, 274 balls, 34x4s) and later Laxman hit his career’s 11th century (112 not out, 264 minutes, 178 balls, 15x4s) and in between Ganguly hit his 14th (102, 246 minutes, 156 balls, 14x4s) as the Pakistani attack came under heavy bombardment.
Pakistan’s pace spearhead Shoaib Akhtar, who was down with chest infection just before the match, looked far from fit Saturday and the other Pakistani bowlers lacked sting. The Indian batsmen revelled, scoring at will and runs came at a fair clip on a pitch that frustrated the bowlers.
Jaffer and Ganguly resumed the Indian innings at the overnight 352 for three and the Mumbaikar soon got to his second double century in one and half years. His previous one had come against the West Indies at St. John’s, Antigua, in June last year.
Jaffer eventually fell, chasing a wide delivery from left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir as he tried to steer the ball to third man but only managed to edge it to wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal.
Laxman, who scored a fabulous 281 against Australia here in 2001, and Ganguly, who had never scored a century at his home ground, took the cue from Jaffer and carried on unhindered.
Tanvir and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria captured two wickets each, but at the high cost of 166 and 194 runs respectively.
SCOREBOARD
Day Two, Second Test, India-Pakistan, Eden Gardens, Kolkata
India (1st innings, overnight 352/3):
Wasim Jaffer c Akmal b Tanveer 202
Dinesh Karthik c Younis b Tanveer 1
Rahul Dravid c Akmal b Kaneria 50
Sachin Tendulkar b Kaneria 82
Sourav Ganguly c Tanveer b Butt 102
V.V.S. Laxman not out 112
Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 50
Extras: (byes 8, leg byes 5, wide 1, no balls 3) 17
Total: (for five wickets decl. in 152.5 overs) 616
Fall of wickets: 1-2 (Karthik, 1.1 overs), 2-138 (Dravid, 40.1), 3-313 (Tendulkar, 75.3), 4-375 (Jaffer, 91.1), 5-538 (Ganguly, 129.6)
Bowling:
Shoaib Akhtar 24 2 84 0 (1w)
Sohail Tanvir 39 6 166 2 (1nb)
Mohammad Sami 29 2 99 0 (2nb)
Danish Kaneria 50 7 194 2
Yasir Hameed 4 0 24 0
Salman Butt 6.5 0 36 1
Pakistan (1st innings):
Salman Butt batting 26
Yasir Hameed lbw b Kumble 21
Younis Khan batting 1
Total: (for one wicket in 16 overs)
Fall of wicket: 1-38 (Hameed, 7.5 overs)
Bowling:
Zaheer Khan 1.2 0 2 0
Munaf Patel 3 0 22 0
Harbhajan Singh 6.4 2 14 0
Anil Kumble 5 1 12 1
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) and Billy Doctrove (West Indies)
Third umpire: Amiesh Saheba (India)
Fourth umpire: K.G. Laxminarayan (India)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (Sri Lanka)