Chennai: This will go down as an epic Test match of the kind you would expect from the world’s top two teams.
In a finish evocative of The Oval in 1979 when India stopped a Himalayan chase (in those times) in the penultimate over, the Bullring thriller gave us everything except a positive climax scene, Had there been a result either way, this would have rated as the best after the two Tied Tests. And all this on a most responsive pitch on which the bowlers always had a chance.
There was only one flaw, if you can call it that.
The world’s great chokers of One-day cricket were living up to a grand reputation for chasing down impossible totals at the Wanderers (remember 438 in an ODI) when they suddenly choked in the fear of losing a Test match. Would it have mattered so much? After all, South Africa are so far ahead in the rankings, a 2-0 defeat may not have reversed the one-two.
Having seen such drama in a see-saw battle from ball one right down to the fall of Faf du Plessis that came like the last straw to the intrepid chase, we should not be cribbing about the last few runs not being attempted.
Spoilt silly by the compelling need in limited-overs cricket to do or die, we often forget that a draw is also a result in the Test match format. The draw will probably be remembered far longer than a tight Test ending in a positive result.
More than a few finger nails would have gone down in both camps as the seemingly endless final day produced ripples of drama building to a crescendo until the need for a too-sharp single facilitated throwing down the wicket when all three stumps are in the line of vision of the fielder.
Even the opening was gifted to India when Graeme Smith lumbered between creases after a hit into the straight field.
It may sound trite and clichetic to say that cricket was the winner, which invariably seems so when a tight finish comes up in which both teams are pleased with the end result.
But, in this case, the cliché could be forgiven for this was indeed a match played in reasonably good temper and very free of the rancour that seems to have overtaken the teams at the other end of the southern hemisphere, in the Ashes series.
The Aussies have transformed into an atavistic mode of snarling ill-tempered tantrums just to regain the urn. The South African and Indian fast bowlers were talkative too — all fast bowlers are.
But they kept it to talk and did not have to snarl or run into an opponent’s path. There was far more spirit to this contest as was best exemplified in the liberal compliments everyone paid to Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara for their splendid innings.
The brilliance of AB de Villiers and du Plessis was acknowledged too even if the Indians did so in the relief of having gotten out of jail after setting a target that had never been met in the fourth innings.
Given the cracks in the pitch and the resultant variable bounce and movement, the efforts of the Proteas were brilliant on the last day pitch. What set the Indian batting apart was its higher technical quality, which is an absolutely great sign for the years to come.
If one has a grouse at all, it is to do with the bowlers not bending their backs enough to get the couple of breaks they needed. Perhaps, their IPL millionaire ways came in the way of going flat out to create a chance to win the opening Test and the series.
A triumph would have been the best tribute to Kohli’s superlative batting, unlucky as he was in missing a double when just one boundary short of a century in each innings. But then the match was such an epic, one shouldn’t look at the scorecard in great detail. This match transcended the statistics.
