Bangalore Test, Day 3, Tea
Friday, December 21, 2001

It continues to be an absorbing Test match. This was another well-fought session, the highlight of which was undoubtedly Sachin Tendulkar's wicket. Tendulkar would probably rank it as his most disappointing dismissal. He is an intense competitor, and hates to finish second-best in a one-to-one battle. Here, Ashley Giles ultimately got the better of him, after a long and fascinating duel.

It was an uncharacteristic innings from Tendulkar. He fought hard to curb his attacking instincts, and succeeded wonderfully well for the first two hours of the day. He must be terribly disappointed at having thrown it away after all that hard work.

Virender Sehwag's ability to keep the runs coming should have lessened the pressure on Tendulkar. But Sehwag started the afternoon session with a blistering attack on Giles, and probably tempted Tendulkar to have a go too. I have no doubt that Tendulkar could have dominated Giles, even when he was bowling a negative line. He reined himself in for a long time, but probably not long enough from an Indian point of view.

Sehwag has been most refreshing to watch. Unlike many batsmen, he prefers to keep things simple, and relies on his excellent ball sense and attacking instincts to see him through. He doesn't possess a great defence, but he realises that and backs his strengths.

England's seamers have been a revelation. Under Nasser Hussain, England are showing a spirit and resilience that one wouldn't normally associate with them.

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

More from Manjrekar
Day 3, Lunch: Nasser got it right

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