Pakistan have their security problem chasing cricket teams away. India has its pitches!" Any Test match which finishes inside three days either has one team woefully ill-equipped for the contest, or a devil of a pitch which plays a bigger role than it is supposed to. In the fourth India-Australia Test, it was both.
On Sunday, a scarcely believable 16 wickets fell. Ravindra Jadeja (5/58 off 16 overs) proved almost unplayable and ended with the Man of the Match award.
Australia's top and middle order again proved they were just not up to the mark facing spin of any kind. Peter Siddle (50 off 45; 7x4) became the first to score two half-centuries in a Test at No. 9 to give Australia false hope.
Cheteshwar Pujara (82 not out off 92 balls; 11x4) ensured India chased down 155 with more ease then either side would have anticipated. Unpredictable turn and bounce can make the best of teams queasy and unable to read the game.
Funnily enough, Australia's stand-in captain Shane Watson defended his batsmen by claiming even the great Sachin Tendulkar struggled in this game. "Tendulkar struggled with the spin and bounce. If one of the greats of the game struggled, very few can expect these inexperienced guys to do well."
India had made a close affair of the chase in Mohali and no one knew how things would pan out here. Until Pujara and Kohli eased the nerves, Australia's by-now mandatory rearguard resistance would have made the Indian camp anxious.
India weren't bowling all that well, Man of the Series Ashwin looked out of it, even a bit of banter from the hosts didn't seem to help matters and Australia had recovered from 94/7 to post 164.
The Aussie top order had fallen to Jadeja after Watson sent in Maxwell to open with Warner in a bid to get some quick runs, but the move didn't work. Jadeja and Ishant gave Warner a mouthful when he fell, the umpires got into the act and it seemed only a fearless dance down the track would work on this pitch.
In the morning, India's two remaining wickets had fallen quickly, for a lead of only 10. The frequency with which wickets fell can be gauged from the fact by tea, India had wrapped up their first innings, the Aussies had fallen for 164 in 46.3 overs and India were 72/1 (Vijay falling to a cute but ill-thought attempt at a reverse sweep off Lyon) in 12 overs.
It was straight out Ripley's 'Believe it or Not'. Fortunately for India, Lyon and Maxwell didn't look half as threatening as they had on Saturday.
A serene Pujara and an unflappable Kohli (41off 60) put on 104 for the second-wicket off 123 balls to all but settle the issue, but the moment Kohli fell the jitters were back.
Tendulkar and Rahane fell in quick succession and until Dhoni hit the winning runs, Australia could have been forgiven for thinking they were still in the contest. It was that sort of a game.
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