By IANS
Melbourne : The Indian batting failed to live up to its billing falling without much resistance to be dismissed for 196 runs in the first innings in reply to Australia’s 343 on the second day of the first cricket Test at the MCG Thursday.
By stumps, Australia had extended their lead to 179 with openers Matthew Hayden (22) and Phil Jaques (10) making 32 in the second knock.
Overcautious Indian batsmen got it all wrong as they thought occupation of the crease was more essential than getting on with the job. It was a painful exhibition of batsmanship and it was left to Sachin Tendulkar to put things in perspective with positive strokeplay to score 62 runs at a fair clip. First V.V.S. Laxman and then Sourav Ganguly showed stomach to stand up to the sustained pace attack of Brett Lee and Stuart Clark but their resistance, too, was not enough to prop the Indian innings.
All three batsmen were dismissed in a bizarre manner. Laxman bent down trying to evade a short inswinger, but ended up fending and Ricky Ponting went sprawling to get his hands under the ball to take a good catch. Tendulkar played on trying to force Clark through the covers but not before launching into both pace and the spin of Brad Hogg, who was given a long spell, by taking 15 off one over from the left-arm spinner. However, it was Hogg who got Ganguly skidding one through under the bat. Laxman made 26 and Ganguly 43.
Clark also accounted for Yuvraj, caught behind by Adam Gilchrist, but the in-form left-handed batsman looked clearly unhappy with umpire Billy Bowden’s decision and stood his ground for a few moments before walking his way back. Captain-in-waiting Mahendra Singh Dhoni also failed to open his account as he was trapped leg before by Clark and India were in deep trouble. Skipper Anil Kumble stuck around to make a gritty 27 before he too was adjudged caught behind by Bowden after consulting his colleague Mark Benson.
India failed to get a good start as regular opener Wasim Jaffer fell caught behind off Brett Lee for four in the ninth over and in the last over before lunch the makeshift opener Rahul Dravid’s painful existence ended when he was plumb in front to Stuart Clark for five off 66 balls.
Dravid survived a dropped catch in the gully by Phil Jaques and was then caught at first slip by Matthew Hayden off a Mitchell Johnson no ball before getting off the mark after 41 deliveries. Dravid’s tortuous stand occupied 98 minutes from 66 balls.
Earlier, Australia could add only six more runs to their overnight score of 337 for nine before Clark was caught at long leg, hooking Zaheer Khan, for 21 to end a productive 31-run stand with Johnson for the last wicket.
Zaheer finished with four wickets for 94 runs as an ideal foil to Kumble whose five wickets for 84 runs on Boxing Day brought India back into the game after Australia looked set for a huge total after the first session.
Australia has not lost a series at home since Richie Richardson’s West Indian team beat them in 1992-93, though India came very close to winning the series last time when they were here in 2003.