Kohli-Dhoni stand one of the best in history

The greatest fightback in the history of Indian Test cricket has to be the partnership between V.V.S. Laxman and Rahul Dravid at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2001. India were asked to follow on by Australia captain Steve Waugh and were well behind by 274 runs having been dismissed for 171 in their first innings.

Laxman, batting down the order in the first innings, had remained unbeaten with a half-century, and so India captain Sourav Ganguly did the smart thing and sent him at number three, which was Rahul Dravid’s position in the first innings.

Laxman played what just about everybody reckons is the best innings by an Indian in Test cricket. But he wouldn’t have got there but for Dravid’s support, and the duo batted the entire day to take India past the danger of an innings defeat and also put some distance between them and the Australians.

Laxman fell for 281, which was the highest score by an Indian until Virender Sehwag smashed two triple hundreds a few years later and Rahul Dravid scored 180. India won that Test with just a couple of overs remaining and then went on to win the series by beating the Australians in the next Test too.

India may not win the current Test in Nagpur, but the 198-run partnership between Virat Kohli and the skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday will also go down in history as one of the best stands in Indian cricket.

When the skipper came to join Kohli, India were down in the dumps rocked by some splendid seam bowling by James Anderson and it appeared as if the story of Mumbai and Kolkata would be repeated. Dhoni promoted himself up the order ahead of debutant Ravindra Jadeja and every time he has done that he has ended up getting runs for the team. It’s as if he bats with added responsibility when he pushes himself ahead of another batsman.

The Kohli-Dhoni duo were not able to do what Laxman and Dravid did and were separated when Kohli fell to the first ball after the tea drinks interval. However, the young man had once again shown the tremendous potential that he has.

Test cricket has this great ability to make players discover hidden aspects of their game and their character. Dhoni and Kohli probably never thought that they could bat for so long without boundaries and sixers. They didn’t know perhaps that they had so much patience and the temperament to play dead bat defence for so long but that was the need of the hour and the situation the team found itself in.

For England, too, Anderson would never have imagined that he could try so many different deliveries and be able to run in hard and bowl on pitches that barely got the ball above knee height.

In the process he as well as the others in the team would have learnt a thing or two about the reserves of ability that they have but have not been tapped so far. While Kohli got his hundred, Dhoni missed out getting it just a tad impatient going for the risky single to get to the mark.

The flurry of wickets evened the day for England. It was not the kind of cricket that the modern day spectator wants but it was one of the most gripping days of Test cricket that one could ever hope to see.