Kaif and Kumble shore up India

By John Cheeran
A splendid rearguard action led by Mohammad Kaif (91) and Anil Kumble (58) has given India hopes of competing at even levels with England in the first Test in Nagpur.
Three days are gone; England has a slight edge, a draw is the most likely result but bringing in the vagaries of pitch for the final sessions, a victory for either side is not improbable.
India trail by 71 runs in the first innings and I do not think the last wicket pair of Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth would be able to bring the deficit down.
But more hard work is required from both England and India to quicken the pace of the proceedings.
Now to the ups and downs of the third day.
The 100-plus partnership between Kaif and Kumble could not have come at a better time for Rahul Dravid’s India.
Down at 190 for seven, India was falling freely, to what would have been a defeat.
As Indian wickets tumbled in Nagpur, Calcutta and Sourav Ganguly were planning to remind how Team India missed the Bengali’s arrogance.
Bring Ganguly.
The chant was smothered in the beginning by none other than Kaif.
What Paul Collingwood and Matthew Hoggard did for England, Kaif and Kumble did for India.
Only the Indian approach was cautious, but caution was justified considering the 393 Andrew Flintoff’s men posted.
But it would be worthwhile to remember the earlier post, where I discussed, how the crisis was triggered by a silly decision by Pakistani umpire Alim only against a disciplined England bowling attack.
So it did not come as a surprise that a determined approach blunted England’s cutting edge in bowling.