India vs Australia, 1st Test at Bengaluru, Oct 09 2008 - Ball by Ball Commentary

So, what better note than the interesting sledge from Zaheer to end the game on? "I have never seen an Australian team play such defensive cricket, which is a good thing for us," he said on receiving his Man-of-the-Match award. Australia will not like the comment, and in three days' time we will know what their response will be. The first Test lived up to the hype, join us soon to find out whether the others do. The second Test starts on the 17th, in Mohali. Till then, okay bye

This has been a gripping Test throughout the duration, but for the last 10 overs. It was a slow pitch, so we didn't see batsmen dominating the bowling, but we still saw two very good innings by Hussey and Ponting. Despite the slow pace, this was an intense Test, and enjoyable through and through. In the end, India fought well for a draw, which was a fair result because while both teams had their moments - Australia more than India - none dominated enough to win outright.

The final day's highlight would be the batting of Tendulkar and Laxman who put their heads down, and fought off their reputation of not being good batsmen in saving Tests. Put together, they played close to 45 overs, out of the 73 India played to force the draw. But how valuable was the late-innings rearguard from Harbhajan and Zaheer in the first innings? For me, India earned the draw on the fourth morning, when Zaheer and friends frustrated Australia for one-and-a-half hours. Stay back, for the presentation

Man of the Match is Zaheer Khan He says, "Can't get better than this. Happy with the way things have gone in this match... Looking at the game, we were in trouble the moment we lost the toss... I have never seen an Australian team play such defensive cricket, which is a good thing for us... Bowling in tandem with Ishant is very important and a pleasure... Bhajji was advising me all the time, making sure I was on the front foot. On odd occasion he would crack a joke that would calm the nerves."

Ricky Ponting: Full credit to India, they stuck out, and fought well... The pitch was cracked up, but it held up decently... Personally, it's a good start. I am very pleased with the way we have done in the first match. There's still room for improvement...

Anil Kumble: We could have had ha chance yesterday, so disappointed. Overall we did well in coming back in the first innings... Fantastic effort overall... This wicket has changed over the years, there isn't much spin, but the fast bowlers bowled superbly. The spinners will definitely come into play in the next three Tests... Bhajji certainly deserves a promotion [in batting order]... The shoulder is shaping up well, and hopefully I should be 100% by Mohali

Ganguly, walking off the Chinnaswamy Stadium for one last time, gets a rich applause. And he goes undefeated in this Test

Finally, sense strikes, and the players shake hands. It's called off, with 10 overs to go still. A great Test, until the last few moments when it just drifted along without much intent from either side

Twelve overs to go, and it's just meandering along right now

Funnily, sun was out during the last over. You can see shadows on the field now