Ponting - A clever captain?

For those who had seen the last two sessions of the fourth day of the Final test match for the Border-Gavaskar trophy, it might seem that they had witnessed two completely different facets of the same team on the same day. From almost a hopeless situation at the end of the first session when India were 98-0 with Sehwag and debutant M.Vijay scoring freely, the Australians did a superb job by restricting India to 166-6. Vijay was sent back after nicking a watson delivery to Haddin, and Dravid(at his worst) didnt last longer. And once Sehwag was back in the dressing room, the onus was on Sachin and Laxman to do the 1st innings repeat act, but Kreza had other plans. He produced a peach of a delivery that breached the defense of the formidable Laxman. And Ganguly did a Bradman, by failing to score in his last outing in international cricket, again Kreza doing the damage. And a moment of madness at the stroke of tea cost Sachin and India dearly. Sachin set of for a single after nudging the ball to cover, but Dhoni was unmoved, and it was too late for him to return back. Six indian wickets in a single session.This showed the Aussies can never be written off, and we have a game on our hands, with India leading by just over 250.

This situation set the alarm bells ringing for the Indians, but little did they expect that Ponting would be so generous. After tea Kreza operated from one end, but the other end saw White(not the best choice) and part timer Hussey operating in tandem. Where were Johnson, lee and Watson? Their absense from the attack was a blessing for the Indian duo of Dhoni- Harbhajan. They scored freely at 4 RPO. And by the time Watson was into the attack, the game was taken away from the Aussies. India ended the innings at 295, with an overall lead of 381.

So what was wrong with Ponting.?Why did he leave India off the hook? The answers are best known to him. But as far as my knowledge goes, Australia were 10 overs behind schedule and Ponting may face a one test ban if he failed to meet the over rate. If this is gong to be the reason for deploying part timers, then I have to rethink on my opinion that Ponting is a clever captain. How could he think about playing the next match against New Zealand, while the match, series and more then that, pride is at stake. Cricket is a game where every induvidual has to put the team before themselves. Ponting has for sure lost a trick or two. Wat was Tim Nielsen, the coach, doing when bizarre things where happening in the middle. And one more question which is asked for the umpteenth time in this series is, Why was Simon Katich not bowled?He is a far better bowler than Hussey and the first choice for part timers(Micheal Clarke was not 100% fit).

If Australia are going to lose this match and with that the series, the first culprit would be Ponting. But still a day to go, and Australia having to win the match to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy and given their attacking spirit we have an exciting final day on the cards.