Snippets - Day 4, Adelaide Test

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Living and dying by the sword
Stand-in captain Virender Sehwag flirted with danger more often than not during his 53-ball 62 in India's second innings, and he made his intentions crystal clear from the first delivery he faced when he had an almighty swing at a widish length ball from Ben Hilfenhaus and just managed to clear Michael Hussey at gully. Sehwag then played another poor shot shortly afterwards off Harris but was lucky the ball just fell short of David Warner, who was stationed in one of the gullys. He then hit a couple of boundaries off
Hilfenhaus' bowling, but was lucky to get away with those shots as he wasn't in control both times. Virender Sehwag in action on the fourth day of the Adelaide Oval Test. (AP Photo/David Mariuz)

But, Sehwag also showed the reason he has earned the reputation of being a destructive batsman as he despatched Hilfenhaus, Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon to the fence with absolute disdain. He brought up his second half-century of the series by lofting Lyon over mid-off to get to the mark off only 36 deliveries.

There was also a stark contrast in the field placements for Sehwag and Dravid. When Sehwag was on strike, the field was spread out and fielders were stationed on the boundary, but the situation changed when Dravid took strike as the field closed in. This was a mini-battle won by Sehwag for the most part, and his counter-attack, however risky, caught out and frustrated the Australians for a while.

Sehwag though threw it away when he was caught by Ponting at short cover off a Lyon full toss, and the bowler himself couldn't believe his luck.       

Holding up play
Umpires Kumar Dharmasena and Aleem Dar asked Gambhir and Rahul Dravid to wait after being dismissed by Ryan Harris as they wanted to check with the television umpire if the bowler had overstepped. Harris had not, and both times his front foot was well within the bowling crease, and the on-field umpires really didn't need to confirm that and hold up play for a couple of minutes each time.

Daunting target
Australia declared their second innings at 167 for 5 - their second declaration of the match - to set India a massive target of 500 in 146 overs to avert a second consecutive whitewash in an away Test series.

The highest winning chase at the Adelaide Oval is Australia's 315 for six against England in 1902; while India's highest-ever winning chase was 406 for 4 against the West Indies in Trinidad in 1976.

Woeful run
Gautam Gambhir's torrid time in the Test series Down Under ended when he edged a Ryan Harris delivery pitched around the off stump to Brad Haddin behind the wickets in the fifth over of India's second innings. Gambhir walks off after being dismissed by Harris on Day 4 at the Adelaide Oval. (AP Photo/David …

Gambhir made 181 runs in the series at an average of 22.62, and 83 of those runs were scored in the second innings at Sydney.

Gambhir also had a dismal Test series in England last year, where he scored 102 runs in six innings at an average of 17.

Dream series for Clarke and Ponting
The current Australia captain and his predecessor both came into this series under pressure of different kinds. While Clarke was struggling to gain acceptancy as captain, Ponting was being hounded by critics, who felt the time has come for him to retire. But, both of them answered their critics in the best manner possible - by piling up the runs.

Clarke, who has also been praised for his astute and attacking captaincy, ended the series with 626 runs, including a triple century and a double century, at an average of 125.20. He is the only captain in 135 years to smash a double and triple century in the same Test series.

Ponting scored 544 runs in the series, including two centuries and three half-centuries, at an average of 108.80. He showed signs of regaining his form when he scored two half-centuries in the Boxing Day Test, and that gave him the confidence to get back to his best and silence the critics.

Ashwin gets defensive
The off-spinner's tactic of bowling around the wicket to right-handers was surprising as he failed to take advantage of the foot marks created by the pace bowlers. In the first session, Ashwin also opted to bowl in and around the off stump instead of getting batsmen to play outside the off. Ashwin bowls against Australia on the fourth day at the Adelaide Oval. (AP Photo/David Mariuz)

Scare for Ponting
Ashwin couldn't hold on to a tough catch off his own bowling to give Clarke a reprieve when he was on 30. But, it was Ponting at the non-striker's end, who was in the firing line of the shot, and managed to get out of the way just in the nick of time.

Dharmasena's blunders
Umpire Kumar Dharmasena made two contentious decisions in the first session that led to the dismissals of Australia skipper Michael Clarke and Michael 'Mr Cricket' Hussey.

Clarke was aggressive in his approach at the start of the day hitting some well-timed boundaries and showing positive intent to declare at the earliest. But, Clarke's knock was cut short when Dharmasena gave him out caught behind off the bowling of Umesh Yadav, even though the wicket-keeper and bowler only made a half-hearted appeal. Clarke was beaten for pace but wasn't happy with the decision, and he could have reason to feel aggrieved as HotSpot showed nothing on the bat; even the Snicko didn't register anything when the ball passed the bat.

Dharmasena made another questionable decision just before lunch when he upheld Ishant Sharma's appeal for LBW against Hussey, who was hit near the knee roll in front of the off stump. Though replays indicated the ball would have just clipped the top of the off stump, it was a tough decision against Hussey. Ishant has been ruing his misfortune in the series as an excuse for not getting among the wickets, but he had luck going his way this time. And, Ishant hasn't taken as many wickets as he would have liked to in Australia because he has not been consistent enough with his line and length, though he has had some catches dropped off his bowling.

Strange decision
R Ashwin not only dismissed Australia's opening batsmen just before stumps on the third day, but also shared the new ball with Zaheer Khan in the hosts' second innings. And, it was expected that Ashwin and Zaheer would start proceedings on the fourth day as well, but instead India's stand-in captain Virender Sehwag opted for the pace pair of the left-arm fast bowler and Ishant Sharma. Ashwin was brought into bowl only in the eighth over of the day - certainly, a strange decision that by Sehwag.