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Series Result The second test between India and England, played at the PCA Stadium Mohali ended into a draw. England had resumed its India Tour after the terror attack on Mumbai. Resumption of the tour was being seen as a befitting reply to terrorists’ act of creating fear and disruption of normal life in India. It must be learnt that terrorists had targeted the foreign national in Mumbai attack. More than 50 people were killed inside the Taj Hotel where the England team was scheduled to arrive a day later and to stay for a couple of days as Mumbai was the original venue for the second test and was later on changed to Mohali because of security reasons.

Defensive On day four England bowlers had given some jolts to the Indian side by taking some quick top order wickets which had forced India to adapt a defensive approach as the match was evenly poised at that time and fall of more wickets could turn the tide in favor of England and series could have ended into a draw. After Tendulkar’s dismissal India decided to play for a draw without taking to many risks. India had made 134 runs for four on day four while Gambhir and Yuvraj were on the crease.

Gambhir&Yuvraj In the morning the play was delayed for two hours because of fog and poor light conditions. Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh added 153 runs for the fifth wicket. While Gambhir played a defensive game Yuvraj was as natural he is. They used reverse hits and sweeps against a strong off-side field set by skipper Kevin Pietersen against the left handers. By the lunch India was leading by 369 runs which also included the 153 run lead from the first inning. But they both missed the chances to complete their centuries. Yuvraj fell short of the crease when he tried to steal a single and a direct throw from Ian Bell in short fine-leg ended his dream run. Yuvraj had brought back the Twenty20 memories when he hit some long and high sixes Stuart Broad. Yuvraj hit six boundaries and four sixes in his 86 run knock off 93 balls. Gambhir missed his century by just three runs when he edged a Graeme Swann delivery and Ian Bell took a brilliant diving catch at gully. He played a very cautious and defensive game which is the sign of a good team man. He took 229 balls to make 97 runs which included six fours. He had scored 179 runs in the first inning of the test. He has the ability to switch the gears at any time but he batted according to the team planning and kept his wicket held. His 276 runs against England are the highest run scored by an Indian batsman in a test. He surpassed the 257 run score by Vinoo Mankad.

England After Yuvraj’s departure skipper Dhoni came in to bat but failed to open his account as he ruturned a simple catch to England spinner Monty Panesar. With the fall of Gambhir’s wicket India declared its second inning at 251 for 7 while Harbhajan remained unbeaten for five. England did not try anything off the beat and played the natural game before the match was declared a draw. When the play ended England was at 64 for one with Straus and Bell on the crease. The dismissed batsman was Alaister Cook who fell victim to Ishant Sharma as he edged his delivery that was pitched in line but was going out-side the off-stump and was Laxman, at second slip, took a low catch.

Awards As it was obvious Gambhir was declared Man of the Match. Indian pacer Zaheer Khan walked away with the Man of the series award. Zaheer Khan was impressive with both the new and old balls. His control, movement, swing and reverse swing was the highlights of his bowling during the series. Another highlight of the day was wicketkeeper-skipper Dhoni’s medium pace bowling. He tried his hands at the bowling and was cheered by the crowd. With this series win India has reclaimed 2^nd spot in the ICC test ranking.

Skipper Dhoni thanked the England side for coming and playing in India which has proved that India is not an’ unsafe place’. England Skipper felt proud of ‘being a captain of a bunch of lads who jumped on a plane to come’ to India and ‘played some good cricket’.