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

With Tendulkar and Laxman out of the side, this was a great opportunity for India's inexperienced batsmen to establish themselves at this level. It must be re-emphasised that the pitch is far from being bowler-friendly and the Sri Lankan bowling, with the notable exception of Muttiah Muralitharan (who hasn't taken a wicket yet), is not exactly world-class. But India have not taken that opportunity. To see the younger batsmen playing so meekly in largely favourable conditions is quite worrying.

I don't think we should go overboard in praising the Sri Lankan bowlers, but there has been a clear difference betwen them and the Indian bowlers. I felt that a couple of the Indians barely broke sweat yesterday, content to bowl line and length rather than concerned with taking wickets. The Sri Lankan pacemen, on the other hand, have used the bouncer intelligently and also slipped in the odd yorker to keep the batsmen on their toes. And they have looked to intimidate the lower order, something that the Indians failed to do yesterday.

Sanjay Manjrekar, who played 37 Tests for India between 1987 and 1996, was talking to Dileep Premachandran.

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