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 V V S Laxman and Ajay Ratra scripted an unexpected turnaround in India’s fortunes in the fourth cricket Test against West Indies here and enabled their team to finish the second day at an impressive first innings score of 462 for six.
The two batsmen put on a record 205 runs for the as yet unfinished seventh wicket partnership yesterday after India had lost three crucial wickets in the first hour of play to almost throw away a solid foundation laid by the batsmen on the opening day.
In the process, Laxman recorded his third Test hundred, remaining not out on 124 at the end of the day, and Ratra his highest Test score, an unbeaten 93.
The duo batted for about five hours, but reserved their best for the final session when they milked the West Indian attack for 125 runs from 33 overs. This was in stark contrast to the first two sessions, which saw the addition of only 46 and 65 runs respectively.
India began the day on a disastrous note losing both the overnight batsmen - skipper Sourav Ganguly and his deputy Rahul Dravid - within two runs of each other when only seven runs was scored in the morning. Dravid missed his second hundred of the series by nine runs while Ganguly fell five runs short of his half-century.
When Anil Kumble, sent ahead of Ratra at number seven, was dismissed for six, India had slid to 257 for six after resuming at their overnight score of 226 for three.
 That raised the possibility of the Indian innings folding within 300 runs but Laxman and Ratra put up a determined stand and fought bravely to check the forward march of the West Indian fast bowlers who were much more accurate yesterday than on the opening day.
The initial aim of the two batsmen was to preserve their wickets and runs were scored at a very slow rate as India took lunch at 272 for six. The second session too was dull in terms of scoring but marked an important milestone for Laxman who completed 2,000 runs in Test cricket when he hit Adam Sanford for two consecutive boundaries to reach 30.
Laxman reached his fourth half-century of the series and was unbeaten on 56 when tea was taken, India having recovered from the early losses and placed at 337 for six.
The last session saw a dramatic change in the attitude of both the batsmen who, having settled nicely into a rhythm, unleashed a flurry of strokes and scored at a very brisk pace.
Ratra, whose first four innings in this debut series had produced only 16 runs, showed a remarkable maturity and batted with a lot of responsibility. He raised his maiden half-century with a single to the square leg. He did not stop at that and set his sights on a hundred, which also could have been achieved had a few more overs remained in the day.
Meanwhile, Laxman, who had three fifties earlier in this series, looked determined to convert this one into a hundred. He drove and pulled with impunity as he raced towards that landmark, and then completed it with a classic on-driven boundary against Sanford.
This was Laxman’s first hundred after that epic 281 against Australia in the famous Kolkata Test last year. The stylish Hyderabad batsman hit a couple of beautifully driven fours on the off-side after that and then offered most of the strike to Ratra who was eagerly approaching his momentous landmark.
However, despite hurrying through his scoring in the last few overs, Ratra stopped seven runs short of his hundred. It would now depend on his skipper to decide whether to wait for his hundred on the third day or declare straightaway.
The 205 runs added by them was the best for the seventh wicket by an Indian pair against West Indies improving upon the 186 put on by Dilip Sardesai and Eknath Solkar in the Bridgetown Test of the 1971 series.
Earlier, Indian batsmen were kept tied down by some tight bowling, which resulted in pressure building on them. Ganguly and Dravid found the going tough in the initial overs and both were dismissed while trying to force the scoring.
Ganguly cut Cameron Cuffy straight into the hands of Wavel Hinds at point and three overs later Dravid attempted to cut a Mervyn Dillon delivery that was not wide enough and played on to his stumps after adding only five runs to his overnight 86.
Kumble took a severe blow on his jaw by a rising delivery from Dillon and spit blood on the ground but he decided to brave the bowling rather than retire hurt. He could not last long though, giving a simple catch to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at leg gully off another short-pitched ball from Dillon.
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