India were reduced to shambles at 62/3, and then Ganguly came out to the middle. Ganguly was the unenviable possessor of a batting average of below 30 in Australia, and his weakness at handling the short delivery was only too well-documented. Therefore, there were some suggestions that Ganguly would drop himself down the order to no.6, so as to delay facing the Australian pacemen as much as possible. His first scoring shot was a streaky shot between gully and third slip, which brought him three runs. Then he played the odd shot outside the off-stump, but other than a few risky fours, there was nothing to suggest that he would fail. Ganguly then drove Andy Bichel between cover and mid-off for another boundary. This proved to be the integral part of his innings as he was decidedly more at ease and runs started to flow from his bat. Previously, on India's tour of England in 2002, he stroked a 128, which had a lot of unorthodox shots and some savage hitting. This innings, though, seemed to have reclaimed the majesty and beauty that Ganguly's batting had been known for. His footwork was noted to be the most intriguing part of his stay at the wicket. He did not move his feet exaggeratedly during his innings and unfurled a huge variety of strokes towards the end of the innings, without once breaking the momentum he had set. He also left the balls that were way outside the off-stump and his defense grew progressively secure and certain. He handled the short ball extremely well too, slapping them away, or ducking safely. There was superb timing and placement written all over his trademark off-side shots. In fact, Ganguly's innings provoked humorous comments from the fans who suggested that his superb strokes were a result of him dining at the Taj Mahal restaurant, whose owner was a spectator.