Bangalore Test, Day 2, Close
Thursday, December 20, 2001

I am absolutely amazed by how this series has developed. Not many expected such a contest, and the last hour of the third session today was tremendous Test cricket – England showed aggression and tested Sachin Tendulkar to the full, but the master showed that he was equal to the task, and came out of the session with a half-century to his name.

It was a test of mental strength and patience for the batsmen, with Ashley Giles bowling round the wicket and into the rough for long periods, denying the batsmen run-scoring opportunities. Tendulkar would normally have paddle-swept those balls, but he was wary of the rough patches outside his leg stump. On a powdery surface, the rough would not have been such a problem, but on a firm track like this one, the ball can misbehave after pitching on the rough, and Tendulkar wisely desisted from playing a low-percentage shot.

When an attacking batsman is forced to play with his pads rather than his bat, it can make him uncomfortable, and we saw the rare sight of Tendulkar flaring up on the field. He is one of the most unflappable players in international cricket, and to see him lose his cool was surprising. To his credit, he quickly refocused on the job at hand.

Andy Flintoff complemented Giles perfectly from the other end, making it the best session of Test cricket in this series.

SS Das's display in this session once again demonstrated his mental frailties. He too got into an altercation with umpire AV Jayaprakash during the drinks break, but unlike Tendulkar, he wasn't able to calm himself and concentrate on his batting. His dismissal had more to do with what had happened five minutes ago, than the merits of Flintoff's delivery.

I hope the on-field altercations don't get blown out of proportion. Of late, there has been a tendency to over-react, something we can all do without here. The umpires handled the situation well, and the close of play happened at the right time. Things should have cooled off considerably when the players come back on the field tomorrow.

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

More from Manjrekar
Day 2, Tea: Well done Flintoff

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