Dravid, go for the impossible…victory

By John Cheeran
All that has happened in the past four days in Nagpur is of little consequence now.
Tomorrow is a new day.
Hope and dread shall alternate as Indians try to deny England victory.
It is also a rare opportunity for this Indian side to find hitherto unknown qualities of chasing under pressure on the last day of a Test match.
A poor day on the field by Indians have helped England immensely to reach 297 for three in their second innings on Saturday which makes a target of 367 for India in the fourth innings.
That is, assuming, Andrew Flintoff’s declares their innings the first thing tomorrow morning.
I’m putting my money on a draw tomorrow.
The very fact that Flintoff has delayed the declaration so far indicates that bowlers will not get too much assistance from the pitch on the final day.
So even a score of 367 would not be out of reach for Indian batsmen. There is a little turn in the wicket and I can straight away admit that England’s bowling attack is far, far superior to India’s.
England’s fielding will be high-octane stuff tomorrow since they believe that if they push too hard Indian Wall will crumble. That is a reasonable line of thinking.
But if Virender Sehwag fires, we will have an interesting Sunday ahead.
If Sehwag gets going and India does not lose any wickets in the first hour on the last day, the advantage will swing in favour of India.
But if Indian top order is going to under estimate Flintoff’s army, they will come to grief.
Sure, England was able to put together its second innings in a brisk fashion only thanks to some shoddy catching by Indian fielders.
Unpardonable. Skipper Rahul Dravid should give more thought to this aspect of the game.
The fact that England batsmen did offer India enough chances to grab wickets gives rise to the fear of an Indian meltdown in the Nagpur sun.
Again, as Dravid and his men join the battle tomorrow, what matters is only tomorrow.
The message that goes out from here is this -- play positive, play hard.
Don’t worry about victory or defeat.