Kandy Test, Day 2, Close
Thursday, August 23, 2001

Harbhajan Singh gave a big hint or two to some of his senior colleagues with the way he set about the Sri Lankan bowlers after the tea interval. The profusion of shots that he played should have told the top order that if you ask enough difficult questions of the Sri Lankan bowlers, they don't have the answers. I hope some of the recognised batsmen will take that attitude to the crease with them in the second innings.

The Indian seamers caught the mood and bowled much more aggressively in the second innings. Zaheer Khan was again the pick of the bunch, bowling at real pace and putting the batsmen on the defensive with some well-directed bouncers. When he first broke into the team, Zaheer was genuinely quick but somewhere along the line, he seemed to have become a line-and-length bowler. This evening, in conditions far less conducive than the first innings, he bent his back and bowled an excellent spell.

It wasn't a bad day for the Indians though the first-innings deficit of 42 could prove decisive. The batting is alarmingly brittle and going in last won't be easy. The pitch isn't really a factor; it's still loaded in favour of the batsmen. Even Muralitharan wasn't that dangerous today. It all comes down to the mindset of the batsmen and that's something that the Indians and John Wright have to work on. Quickly.

Sanjay Manjrekar, India's No.3 a decade ago, was talking to Dileep Premachandran.

More Sanjay Manjrekar
Don't expect better from India - Lunch
Young, gifted...and meek - Tea

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