Kolkata: Sachin Tendulkar marked his return to form with a patient 76 but England claimed the honours on the opening day by reducing a jittery India to 273 for seven in the first innings of the third Test here on Wednesday.
Tendulkar played a composed innings under pressure facing 155 balls and hitting 13 boundaries in the process. His partnership of 79 for the fifth wicket with Yuvraj Singh was the highlight of the Indian innings as most of the other top order batsman failed to capitalise on their starts.
He missed a century when he was forced to edge one off seamer James Anderson and the catch was taken by wicketkeeper Matt Prior.
Anderson got the ball to reverse consistently in the post tea session which saw England get three wickets after getting two each in the first two sessions on a Eden Gardens track which appeared good for batting.
It was Tendulkar’s first half-century since the Sydney Test in January and he appeared relieved after getting to the mark with a boundary of Steven Finn.
Electing to bat on flat wicket that had little to offer, India had a promising start from Gautam Gambhir (60) and Virender Sehwag (23).
But Gambhir could not convert his fine start for yet another time, while Virat Kohli’s poor form in the series continued as he could manage only six runs.
Anderson (3/68) rocked the home team at the fag end of the day with the second new ball. He bowled a perfect off-cutter that breached Ravichandran Ashwin’s defence.
At stumps, skipper Dhoni was unbeaten on 22 (from 59 balls) along with Zaheer Khan who was yet to open his account. This is the first time that floodlights were used in a Test match at the Eden with the last 40 minutes being played under artificial lights.
‘Pleased with Sachin’s wicket’
Anderson was particularly pleased with Tendulkar’s wicket, saying, “It’s always good to get Sachin’s wicket. Once I retire, it will be nice to tell others that Sachin’s was a big wicket. When I got him out, it looked like he was set. He was bit scratchy to start with but was happy to get him out when I did.”
Asked about the Jonathon Trott low catch that dismissed Gambhir, he said: “Really difficult to field in the slips and hold onto these low catches. Luckily, he caught onto it in the end.”
The seamer seemed happy with the Eden Gardens’ 22-yard strip.
“This pitch is very abrasive. Reverse swing is a tricky art to practise. But we were able to swing the ball. There is a bit of dew because of the early start and that helps.”
Praising Anderson, Gambhir said the English pacer was hiding the ball well as he dismissed Tendulkar and Ashwin with reverse swinging deliveries.
“He didn’t give loose deliveries. It was reversing and he was hiding the shine as well. It really gets difficult when someone hides the ball as you’re not able to see the shine of the ball and don’t know which way it would go. Ultimately you have to play the ball late,” explained the opening batsman.
“We have got Zaheer and Ishant who can reverse the ball really well. If they are on song, it’s going to be difficult for England as well,” said Gambhir after the first day’s play.
“Zaheer Khan is a master of reverse swing. If he gets going I think it would be worrying for England. Hopefully, Zaheer and Ishant can do the job for us and play a big role for India. This is a wicket which will have something for everyone. It has carry, and sometimes the ball remains up and down,” he added.
Gambhir said that the match is currently evenly poised and if India were able to post a total of 330 plus tomorrow, it could turn out to be a good contest.
“I think we have lost two wickets more. It was an even day… can’t really say it can go England’s way. If we can put 330-350 on the board it would be a good contest,” he said. (PTI)