India should've finished off by Day Four

There's no hiding from the fact that what should have been easy for India was made to look dramatic, opines Kris Srikanth.

What an anti-climatic end to an otherwise great Test match. Somehow my hometown seems to produce these cliffhangers that invariably go down to the wire. Right from the Test in 1969-70 involving Australia, the tied Test

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in '86, the Reliance Cup opener in '87 and down to the 2001 Test, its been a series of great contests between these two sides at the Chidambaram Stadium.

It's a real pity that the rains had the last laugh this time around but then again, that's the way this game goes. Four days of exhilarating cricket set up the final day with all four results possible - what more can one ask for ?

And I would go as far as to say that perhaps nature had decided that after the fight put up by the Australians on days three and four, they didn't deserve to lose. Should play have started in time, I would have rated the chances of either team as equal.

However, there's no hiding from the fact that what should have been easy for India was made to look dramatic. Without taking anything away from Damien Martyn, who played one of the best knocks I have seen in Test cricket, I felt that the Indians should have wrapped up the match on day four itself. They have no excuse for not doing so. How they let Gillespie bat for four hours on a wicket where the ball was still jumping and turning, beats me.