Records galore on a lifeless pitch; Match ends in a draw

That the match will end in a draw was known to us during the lunch break of the 4th day's play itself. Thus, there was nothing surprise element that was in store for us on the 5th day of the 2nd test match, but except that the formality has to be completed.

Now that the dust has settled, this allows us to get into post-mortem. What were the lessons learnt from this test match?

1. Nature of the pitch: The pitch would have behaved the same way, had the teams continued to play for the next 5 days. Such is the flat nature of the track that will only further prompt the so-called pundits to stick more to ODIs and T-20s. The pitch has to offer some assistance to the bowlers. That 19 wickets have fallen in 5 day's play will mean lesser people to follow the test match cricket as well. It is high time ICC looks into these prevailing conditions. Should all matches be played on neutral grounds? This is for something that ICC has to ponder.
2. Is India the real No.1 in Test Cricket:Going by records during the last 2 matches, wherein they could not bowl out an opposition twice is not one would like to see a No.1 team struggle with. To me, it has got to do with the bowling team selection. The team that has been selected has put lot of us in a frustrating mode. I have been advocating that Ojha is no more than a ODI player. He is a mere containment bowler. In Test cricket, we need aggressive bowlers who can take wickets. To me, Amit Mishra is a better and agressive bowler than Ohja. Why was Ojha retained in the 2nd test match, inspite of his bad performance in the 1st test, is anybody' guess. Again, Ishant Sharma, might have bowled well in patches. But these are not the qualities a regular bowler would be made of. Instead we need attacking bowlers. To me, Munaf Patel would have been the ideal replacement for the 2nd test.
3. Does India need an allrounder: Definitely Yes, and I have been saying this since the on-going test series has commenced. The balance is very much required for a team to remain in the top spot. I would certainly have had Irfan Pathan in the team, backed with 3 spinners, since we do not have top quality fast bowlers to reckon with.
4. Bench strengths on batsman pretty strong: Even if Dravid or Laxman or Sachin were to retire from Test cricket in the next 6 months to 1 year, India really has got good replacements in the form of Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Chateswar Pujari, Badrinath to take over the mantle.