The heroes of this test are the fans of Chennai. Even though large parts of the city are severely water logged several hundred fans showed up when play began late on day 4. Throughout the last 3 days the fans turned up hoping for play only to be disappointed. This can be trying under the best of circumstances but the behavior of the fans has been exemplary. This, despite not having any local player to cheer. This puts the graceless behavior of the people of another metropolis firmly in perspective. Cricket lovers of Chennai, I salute you. I hope the new board will do a better job of allotting venues in the future.

Rahul won the toss and chose to bat, which is the right decision. We should use this day and a half to gain batting practice. M S Dhoni – congratulations for a well deserved debut. As expected, Dada was retained in the test side.

32.3 overs were bowled and we ended the day on 90 / 2 having lost Gambhir for 0 and Sehwag for 36. The pitch had very low bounce. It was two paced with the occasional ball shooting low and fast. Gambhir was done in by one that kept low and was bowled by Vaas. Sehwag, however, played as only he can, scoring 36 from 28 balls with 7 fours. He was brilliantly caught by Atapattu at short cover but his batting was lustily cheered by the assembled fans while it lasted.

Rahul and Sachin then negotiated a tricky period of play facing Muralitharan in full flight. There was judicious use of the pads and they played the ball late, which worked well. Rahul played a couple of pleasing drives and Sachin was solid in defence. Play was called off early for bad light despite the floodlights, not a surprise with the red ball. Rahul was unbeaten on 30 from 95 and Sachin on 11 from 69 balls. The pitch will have more bounce tomorrow if there is no more rain and batting should be easier. The ball is 32 overs old and will not swing as much in the morning. There will be appreciable turn and I expect an interesting battle between Murali and the batsmen after they negotiate the first hour. We haven’t played him in tests for a long time and I am glad we are getting a chance to play him without any pressure now.

Yuvraj deserves to be in the side and I feel sorry for him. His chance will come. Sometimes you just have to be patient and bide your time. Micky Mouse has sent me an interesting question – see comment with previous article. I will address it at the end of this test.