Ahmedabad Test, Day 1, Lunch
Tuesday, December 11, 2001

My first reaction to this pitch was one of disappointment. It was prepared solely from an Indian perspective. No effort was made to produce a sporting wicket, and that is why both seamers, Javagal Srinath and Tinu Yohannan, struggled this morning. There is not much they could have done about it.

The good news for India is that it looks good for batting and there is every possibility that runs will keep coming in the second innings. The wicket here tends to get slower rather than crack up alarmingly, and with a line-up that has Virender Sehwag at No. 7, they shouldn't be too worried.

A cause for concern, however, is Anil Kumble who is recovering from a shoulder injury. He bowled poorly in South Africa and, apart from one spell, was quite ordinary in Mohali as well. If he is at all below par in this Test, it could spell trouble for India. He should have been brought into the attack earlier than Harbhajan Singh to make the most of whatever little bounce there is in the surface early on.

Mark Butcher and Marcus Trescothick batted well. Trescothick looks as if he has made a conscious effort to sweep Harbhajan even off a length. Sometimes in a short series you need to make drastic changes to your approach. This might just upset the offspinner's rhythm.

Sanjay Manjrekar, mainstay of the Indian batting in the late '80s and early '90s, was talking to Rahul Bhattacharya.

More from Manjrekar
1st Test, Mohali: End game

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