Tendulkar, Ganguly power India on day of milestones

New Delhi: Milestones took centre stage as India closed the first day of the second Test on 311-5 against Australia in Mohali on Friday.

Sachin Tendulkar eclipsed Brian Lara to become the leading run-getter in Test cricket, followed it up with a half-century, and added eight more runs to become the first batsman to score 12000 Test runs before falling short of his 40th Test hundred just before stumps. His partner at the other end, Sourav Ganguly secured one of his own by reaching 7000 runs in the longer version of the game.

Ganguly was batting on 54 and nightwatchman Ishant Sharma was unbeaten on two when stumps were called, after India seemed to throw away a near perfect start to their innings after stand-in captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat in the absence of Anil Kumble, who ruled himself out the game.

India would have more tick marks in the honours board, but the wicket of Tendulkar towards the end of day's play means Australia had removed half of India's batting order, and the iffy form of Dhoni would surely keep them interested.

After a run-riot in the first session in which India raced to 104-1 in 25 overs, Australia fought back with three quick wickets to leave the hosts on 174-4 at the end of the second session with two new batsmen at the crease, having added just 70 runs in the afternoon session.

Old Pros Shine

This is why Tendulkar and Ganguly's partnership — they added 142 for the fifth wicket — became all the more crucial. The hard Mohali surface allowed the batsmen to play their strokes, but had to be wary of further damage to their innings. But it was just the kind of wicket where it's foolish for a batsman to throw it away after getting a start. Tendulkar could tell, having fallen for 88 to give debutant Peter Siddle his first Test wicket.

Sehwag and Laxman had already fallen prey to soft dismissals — both edged to the wicketkeeper down the leg side — while Gambhir too fell to an edge. At four wickets down and virtually no momentum propelling the score, the duo had to wait for their scoring opportunities.

They came, and they came in plenty. Both Tendulkar and Ganguly were aided by a pitch they could trust, and the occasional loose delivery was promptly dispatched to the boundary, much like Gautam Gambhir did in the morning.

It was a rousing reception for Tendulkar, fireworks began in broad daylight as players from the Australian camp offered a handshake each. The smoke cleared, and it was business as usual, as Tendulkar straight-drove, flicked, danced down the track, making all wonder where was it all in Sri Lanka. His knock had only consumed 111 balls.

Ganguly was composed, but took time to settle in. He was facing more balls than his partner, and capitalised on it with impeccable timing backed up by his penchant for finding the narrowest of gaps. Tendulkar and Ganguly almost have a Sehwag in between in terms of runs, but it must have meant just as much for the for the elegant southpaw.

India stutter after strong start

Brett Lee sparked a mini-collapse when he had Rahul Dravid caught behind for 39 after the batsman had put on 76 for the second wicket with Gambhir, before Mitchell Johnson removed the in-form Gambhir for 67 on the same score.

VVS Laxman was accounted for after scoring 12 by the Australian left-arm pacer as the visitors clearly won the second session even after giving away a solid start to the Indians.

India dominated the morning session as Virender Sehwag and Gambhir got the hosts off to a flier, putting on 70 runs for the first wicket before Sehwag fell to Mitchell Johnson caught behind for a 36-ball 35.

Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni took on the mantle of captaincy after Anil Kumble declared himself unfit, which handed a Test debut to Haryana leg-spinner Amit Mishra.

Kumble, who turned 38 on Friday, left the decision of playing himself until the morning of the Test but the team management decided against risking him. Australia also went into the Test with a change, with paceman Stuart Clark's elbow injury making way for right-arm fast bowler Peter Siddle's debut.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Cameron White, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Johnson.