India V Australia-Perth,Session III

After all the controversy and the series being run into bad blood, it was imperative that the good cricket erase out those memories.It has been achieved to a certain extent.Now,the action is happening on the filed not off it.Players are doing their bat and ball do the talking not their mouths.The 3rd day saw yet another good contest between bat and ball where a total of 307 runs were scored at expense of 11 wickets.Indians expected their tail to wag in the post tea session.And some wag was that! Laxman and RP Singh added 51 invaluable runs to the total which took the lead to 413, R.P. Singh being the more dominant partner scoring 30.It was also heartening to see a player like Laxman think 'out of the box'; he was guarding R.P.Singh against Lee and was quite happy to give the strike to R.P.Singh when it came to Clark and Tait. Tait, in particular has looked out of sorts in this test and Australian media should know there is a thin line between praising and lying.R.P.Singh, coupled with some streaky and some confident shots raced to 30.Although, running between the wicket was appallingly pathetic, it was also Laxman's reluctance to take a single even on the 5th ball that was hard to fathom.He even refused a two on the last ball of the over which could have him on strike.But, he and R.P.Singh added some very important runs to the total which may make these mistakes look insignificant.It was also good to see Laxman trying some shots which he doesn't normally tries.If, the technique needs to take a backseat for team's benefit, the player should do it and Laxman did just that.He fell in the same fashion, backing out to Lee edging one to glichrist as India set Australia 413 to win.
Australia came out to bat and one could sense an air of reluctance in the Indian camp.Initially,R.P.Singh sprayed the ball all over.It was understandable as he had just spent a good 2hours batting in the middle.But,as usual Irfan Pathan was right on the money and he took out the nervous debutant's wicjet and Australia were 21 for 1. Irfan Pathan was bowling really well forcing the batsmen toplay almost each and every bowl.He got one to bounce one unevenly, which took Jacques's outside edge and the ball went to Jaffer at 3rd slip.Australia were looking down the barrel with 43 for 2.Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey added 22 more to end the day at 65/2.Ricky Ponting is atill undefeated at 24 and he could hold the key to Australia's fortunes and India would rely on the services of Anil Kumble.The pitch is a bit up and down,which would particularly delight the Indian skipper.As of now, India needs 8 wickets and Australia 348 runs.History would be written either way, what remains to be seen is which side is more keen.