Ahmedabad Test, Day 3, Close
Thursday, December 13, 2001

The period immediately after tea, when VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag came out to resume the Indian innings, was critical for both teams. England had just got rid of Sachin Tendulkar, but could not afford to relax, for in Laxman and Sehwag India had batsmen who could have wrested back the initiative in a trice.

Unfortunately for India, Sehwag was dismissed just when he was looking good. He might consider himself a trifle unlucky, for Craig White's delivery nipped back sharply and would probably have missed leg stump. It was a reprieve for England, and they got on top after that.

Ashley Giles gave us an indication of the purchase that could be obtained from the pitch if one bowled with strong fingers and stuck to a tidy line and length. Bowling from wide of the stumps, he fired them in on a full length and allowed the rough patches which had developed on this third day track, to do the rest. He had bowled slightly shorter when he first came on to bowl yesterday, but today he cleverly made use of a wearing wicket to pick up a five-for.

Especially impressive was the way he got rid of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, two lower-order batsmen who could have contributed a few. Once they went, India's chances of getting close to England's total evaporated.

Nasser Hussain's captaincy was admirable. Unlike his Indian counterpart, Hussain was on the ball, every ball, and kept his wits about him even when things were going against his team.

India have conceded a sizeable lead, and Sourav Ganguly has a tough task on hand to pick his team up and get back into the match. England would be buoyed by the last two days, and will carry that confidence into the fourth day's play. One good hour with the bat tomorrow, and India would struggle to come back into the match.

Ganguly needs to believe that his bowlers can dismiss England cheaply in the second innings and turn this match around. They have had a couple of bad days on the field, but they should take the field tomorrow believing they are still the better team.

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

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