Sachin Tendulkar showed glimpses of his vintage form with a fluent unbeaten half-century as India recovered from two early jolts to leave the first cricket Test against Australia evenly poised here today.
The 39-year-old veteran, who had been struggling for form for a long time, played with decisive footwork and a positive frame of mind to guide India to 182 for three in 52 overs on the second day at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, which saw local boy R Ashwin grab a career-best seven-wicket haul.
Tendulkar (71 batting) and Virat Kohli (50 batting) were at the crease when stumps were drawn with India still trailing by 198 runs. The two have so far added 77 runs for the fourth wicket.
Tendulkar, in the course of his 67th Test half-century, touched another milestone by surpassing 7,000 runs on home turf. Kohli, on the other hand, completed his seventh Test half-century at the fag end of the day.
Resuming at the overnight score of 316/7, the Australians continued to frustrate the Indians with Captain Michael Clarke (130) and the tailenders combining to score 64 more runs to take the score to a competitive 380.
Ashwin, who had scalped six wickets on the opening day, claimed the wicket of last man Nathan Lyon to return with figures of 7/103, while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2/71) and Harbhajan Singh (1/87) were the other wicket-takers.
The Indian reply was disastrous to start with as openers Virender Sehwag (10) and Murali Vijay (2) departed in close succession, falling to tearaway pacer James Pattinson, who was used in short spells.
But Cheteshwar Pujara (44) and Tendulkar steadied the innings to some extent with a 93-run third-wicket partnership.
Both the batsmen launched a brilliant counter-attack to unsettle the Aussie bowlers.
Tendulkar hit two glorious fours off first two balls he faced from Pattinson and clobbered another majestic boundary off the fourth ball, making his intentions clear.
Just when the duo seemed to be cruising along comfortably, Pattinson provided the breakthrough when he came back for his second spell by accounting for Pujara.
Pujara fell to an off-cutter in the 29th over after striking six fours in his 76-ball stay at the crease.
With three days left in the game, India will look to come close to the Australian total and then push to seize the initiative.
Earlier, both the openers were out bowled. Vijay was the first to go after a 15-ball stay, which included two fours, done in by Pattinson’s pace.
Sehwag quickly followed his partner back to the pavilion, failing to spot a slower one from Pattinson which bounced inside the crease and dislodged the bail of his leg stump.
But Pujara and Tendulkar steadied the rocking boat, bringing up the team’s 50 in the 13th over. The two displayed patience but at the same time kept the scoreboard ticking.
They completed a half-century stand for the third wicket in 68 deliveries to rescue India from the precarious position.
Tendulkar was then joined by Kohli, who had a disappointing series against England, unleashed a flurry of shots to announce his return to form.
Earlier, in the morning session, Australian batsmen frustrated Indian bowlers with determined batting before being bowled out for 380 in their first innings.
Resuming at 316 for 7, the visitors resisted the home attack for 38 overs and added 64 runs. They were also helped to an extent by a few decisions that went in their favour much to India’s frustration.
Since the last-wicket pair of James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon was at the crease at the official lunch time, the morning session was extended and at the fall of the latter, the break was taken.