Honours shared in fascinating duel of equals

Laxman, Zaheer orchestrate Indian revival while Proteas ride on Kallis grit

The end might have had a touch of the anti-climactic to it, but otherwise, it was a fascinating contest of skill and wits and will between the world’s two top-ranked teams.

It was all but unthinkable, after the opening day of the series, that India would come away with honours shared. Day one in Centurion was a complete wash-out, the Indian batting blown away in admittedly demanding conditions by Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel; the last day of the series at Newlands on Thursday emphatically showed just how much India’s batting has come on from the days when, at the first hint of pace and bounce, they would keel over without a fight.

Given the high standards they have set for themselves and the supreme belief in their abilities, India will look back at day four at Newlands and rue an opportunity lost to make history here. No Indian team came to South Africa as well prepared and as ready for battle as Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, and when they had South Africa on the mat at 130 for six – and a lead of 128 – after lunch on the fourth day of the final Test, it appeared as if the Final Frontier was there to be conquered.

Instead, the Indians ran into a familiar tormentor, a man that towered head and shoulders above everyone else during the Test series and reaffirmed his status as one of the all-time greats. Jacques Kallis was easily identifiable as the one who stood between India and a famous triumph, overcoming every possible adversity including a muscle strain that, according to him, was as painful as a rib being broken. His grit was to rub off on Gautam Gambhir the following day, the Indian opener making light of a sore left forearm to himself orchestrate another of those back-to-the-wall stonewalling jobs that he is becoming so adept at.

India’s rejuvenation can directly be traced back to their magnificent fightback in Centurion. Despite losing a crucial toss and being blasted out for 136, India had plenty to salvage from that Test. As a contest, the game was over on the truncated first day, but the series was still alive. India needed to convince themselves, as much as anyone else, that the first-innings capitulation was a mere aberration.

They did so in stunning fashion, Sachin Tendulkar’s 50th Test century and the spunk of the top-order powering them to 459, the highest second-innings total ever in an innings defeat. The batsmen had restored credibility and saved some face, but the bigger task of saving the series lay ahead of them.

Zaheer Khan’s spectacular return in Durban helped them tick that box, too. The influential left-arm paceman had been sorely missed in the first Test, and immediately upon his return from a hamstring injury, he showed just what difference his presence makes to the Indian bowling. He and VVS Laxman, rapidly assuming proportions of a second-innings behemoth, were key figures in India setting aside the handicap of another lost toss and playing the key moments better, surprising South Africa with their intensity and the rapidity with which they overturned the Centurion setback.

The final Test best exemplified the closeness between the teams and the unwillingness of either outfit to concede an inch. Fortunes swung dramatically but the constants still found means to shine through. Kallis’s remarkable twin hundreds, bowler of the series Steyn’s wondrous skills and his unbelievable spell to Tendulkar on the fourth morning, and the little master’s 51st century were all efforts that did the series, and the gentlemen concerned, extremely proud. It was as if all the riches of the cricketing world had been concentrated in that little spherical arena – never mind the Ashes! – and that the cricketing Gods were looking down benevolently, savouring the bloodless war of the titans and doffing their hats to a trio of legends whose expertise will be viewed with awe by generations to follow.

The gathering whispers about the credibility of India’s number one ranking and the ability of Dhoni’s men to perform well in alien conditions have now been comprehensively silenced. Thursday’s resolute batting display exorcised the demons of the past, when batting time used to be India’s Achilles’ heel.

There was no fairytale victory to round off a campaign the protagonists will remember fondly but the result was no more than just; neither side deserved to lose though the carping critics might snipe that on Thursday, neither side wanted to win, either!