Tea India 616 for 5 (Ganguly 102, Laxman 112*, Dhoni 50*) v Pakistan
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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Sourav Ganguly got his first hundred on his home ground, Eden Gardens © AFP
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Sourav Ganguly unveiled a special gift for an adoring home crowd, and two fingers to his critics, with his 14th Test hundred as India bruised, battered and pummelled Pakistan on the second day of the second Test at Eden Gardens.
VVS Laxman was an unobtrusive but integral participant in Ganguly's bash, contributing an untroubled 91 as India went to tea at 552 for 5. Wasim Jaffer's second Test double-hundred was his own party trick, earlier in the day, but with every ball, every run, every over, every boundary, Pakistan's spirits sapped further on another damaging afternoon.
Ganguly's hundred was a significant one: it was his first against Pakistan, his first at Eden Gardens, but most importantly his first in four years, almost to the day, against major opposition. It was further proof, if it was needed, that he has been among India's best batsmen since his return from a forced exile. At least one Australian in Rajasthan might wince at a Test record since then that shows four fifties and two hundreds in ten Tests.
Ganguly looked solid from the moment he arrived yesterday, though undoubtedly it helped that the moment was 313 for 3. He was tested only briefly this morning and straight after lunch, unimaginatively, with the short ball. He weathered most of it, though was lucky to survive a ferocious bouncer from Shoaib Akhtar just after lunch when on 63, as Yasir Hameed failed to hold on to a difficult chance at gully.
That apart, Ganguly was by turn regal and calculating. He drove well in front of square, which is generally a sign that he is in touch, never more than when caressing Mohammad Sami past wide mid-off early this morning. To move in to the nineties, just before mid-day drinks, he bettered it, with what was a mere push, off the same bowler.
In between, the area around point and gully was also well-traversed with any number of cuts, deflections and scythes. When he wasn't hitting boundaries - and that wasn't too often - he was picking up the many easy singles here, there and everywhere.
Laxman, as has recently been the case, put together a fine day's work without too many people taking too much notice. Only when he first came in this morning was he in any strife, and that too lasted no more than an over against Sohail Tanvir. He got in to the groove with a delicious drive off Tanvir, and before Pakistan knew it, he was helping himself to boundaries.
When they erred in length, he would push them between mid-off and extra cover and if they erred in line, he whipped them through the arc between mid-on and square leg. Shoaib and Sami tried to rattle him after lunch with bouncers and perhaps did so twice: the first, he fended off uncomfortably over slips, the second he gloved. Summing up, Pakistan's day, that shot went over the keeper for four.
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Pakistan's bowling was a mass of nothingness: no line, no length, no intent, no plan © AFP
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On he went, serenely, after that spell, aiding Ganguly in adding 163 at a fair clip and eventually outlasting his partner. Ganguly's loft to long-on, off Salman Butt of all people, was a rare act of Indian charity for Pakistan.
It is arguable whether they deserved it for apart from brief periods in the morning and immediately after lunch, Pakistan's bowling was a mass of nothingness: no line, no length, no intent, no plan. Shoaib and Sami looked healthier after a night's rest and stirred occasionally. Vitally, it was never sustained. As the afternoon wore on, even Danish Kaneria's restrictive plan to bowl leg stump failed to do prevent the easy runs.
With MS Dhoni on hand, Pakistan will wonder whether getting rid of Ganguly was so clever after all.
Source: How does it feel scoring a century at the Eden Gardens? 
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