Kandy Test, 1st Day, Tea
Wednesday, August 22, 2001

This was a good sustained bowling performance by the Indians, with both Zaheer Khan and Sourav Ganguly bowling really excellent spells after lunch. Zaheer in particular caught the eye with the way he bowled with the older ball. It was heartening to see him get the ball to reverse-swing so quickly, as early as the 30th over.

Another aspect that caught my eye was the Indian catching. The standards in the field have definitely improved in the past couple of years and Ramesh looks a class act at gully.

However, Ganguly can't afford to dwell on a satisfying day's work thus far. The Sri Lanka score may not look formidable but the Indian captain would do well to remember that his batting line-up is fragile and inexperienced. It's imperative that they wrap things up as soon as possible after tea, and absolutely vital that they dismiss Jayawardene soon. He is a classy strokemaker and can play a really long innings.

Sanjay Manjrekar, a pillar of the Indian side in the 1990s, was talking to Dileep Premachandran.

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