Indian manager Chetan Chauhan on Tuesday showered lavish praise on the team's batsmen for their 'great fightback' and expressed confidence that the hosts would be able to take a 200-run lead in the second innings. "It's a geat fightback by the team. Yesterday, lot of people had written us off," Chauhan, one of the most succesful Indian openers, told newspersons after the end of the third day's play at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

"It's a geat effort by the Indian batsmen in the second innings. The two openers (SS Das and S Ramesh) gave a good start, and then (VVS) Laxman took over," he said. Das (39) and Ramesh (30) put on 52 for the opening wicket in the second innings, after which Laxman pilloried the formidable Australian bowlers to record his second century in Test cricket.

The day turned out to be one of the most memorable in Laxman's 21-Test career as he ploughed a lone furrow to notch up 59 in the team's 176-run first innings. Chauhan said that India needed to set a target of at least 200 for the Australians in the second innings to make a match of it. "They are playing well. I am confident they can do it."

© PTI