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

The morning session was another reminder that we really have to tone down our expectations from this Indian batting line-up. This has to be the weakest batting order that I have seen, with every batsman barring Rahul Dravid either trying to find his feet or regain his touch. Das, Ramesh, Kaif and Badani have yet to establish themselves at the highest level while Sourav Ganguly is hopelessly out of form. Don't expect the world from them.

Even though the immediate future looks dire, this series is a good opportunity for men like Dravid and Ganguly to prove themselves. Sri Lanka don't have the best bowling attack around and they're playing on a pitch that is still batsman-friendly. For those players rightly or wrongly labelled world-class, this is a chance to show that they have what it takes.

It was interesting to see that Ganguly perished on the offside yet again. That arc from gully to cover was supposed to be his great strength. It's a valuable lesson for any youngsters that may be watching. If your technique is faulty, as Ganguly's is, even your greatest strength can get you into trouble and lead to an extended run of poor form.

The opposition bowlers have a much easier time when bowling to these Indian batsmen. With the exception of Dravid and Das, who are quite sound, all the others have glaring weaknesses that they can exploit. It's clear now that opponents will continue to target Ganguly on the offside and take advantage of Ramesh's non-existent footwork.

The batting philosophy has also changed. In our day, we were told to give one session to the bowler and take the last one for ourselves. Nowadays, batsmen look to go on the offensive and make runs from the outset. Dravid and Ganguly did that this morning, but it was too good to last.

Sanjay Manjrekar, a regular in the Indian side of the 1990s, was talking to Dileep Premachandran. He will be commenting Session by Session for the remainder of the series.

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