Rain brings cheers, bowlers don’t

Darpan Singh. Ahmedabad

(April)
Clouds, lightning and subsequent showers brought cheering among fans, feeling completely let down by the poor show put up by Team India. The second day's play was on Friday called off early due to rain with 12.4 overs still remaining to be bowled. Now, the play will start half an hour earlier than the scheduled time of 9.30 am on Saturday to make up for the lost time. Fans, especially youths and children, were seen rejoicing and resorting to rain dance. A spectator remarked, “Now, only rain can help India think of saving this Test match.” Rain stopped play in the third session when South Africa were 494 for 7 in their first innings, in reply to India's 76. The visitors lead by 418 runs.

Tough task for first-inning heroes

In order to save the Test match, the Indian batsmen will have to put up an out-of-skin show. Though they have amassed a number of centuries, but when it comes to second-inning tons, they have little to boast of. It may surprise many to know that Ganguly and Sehwag have so far scored a century each in second innings. VVS Laxman has done it thrice. In such a situation, a lot depends on Rahul Dravid who has done it five times in his career. A cricket buff said, “Let’s hope ‘The Wall’ stands tall once again.”