England continued from where they left off on day two, cementing their authority on the third Test against India and piling on a 193 lead with four wickets in hand at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Although skipper Alastair Cook (190) was unable to complete a double century, his 173-run stand with Jonathan Trott (87) for the second wicket was enough to drop the Indian heads in the field.
Cook was run out in a bizarre fashion – his bat in the air while he tried to avoid a Virat Kohli throw – but Kevin Pietersen added a belligerent 54 and the unbroken 56-run stand between Matt Prior and Graeme Swann helped the tourists close the day on 506 for six.
Cook, who had scored an England record 23rd Test century on day two, was less fluent on his return and was reprieved on 152 when Ishant Sharma put down the simplest of return catches.
The series is currently poised 1-1, with India winning the first Test in Ahmedabad by seven wickets, and England securing the second by 10 wickets in Mumbai.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 8th, 2012.
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Now the Indians are getting floored in their own turfs. Looks like once the batting powerhouse will soon meet the same fate of the West Indies of the 80s, at least in Test cricket against the top sides. There is a big void left behind by Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman and soon Tendulkar but there is hardly anyone on the display that can walk in any of those big shoes. Kohli was on song for a little while but has started to play the other side of the LP against England. Pujara had good outings but soon the comparison with Dravid started to echo in the commentary boxes, jump to conclusion?. But the sour reality is that the good days of test cricket against good teams for the Indian team is behind them. With the IPL and overdose of the T20 cricket, we may not see another Dravid, Laxman, Gsnguley or a Tendulkar in a long time consequently the long struggle ahead for the Indian team against the top test teams.
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