Ahmedabad Test, Day 5, Tea
Saturday, December 15, 2001

The Indian openers, SS Das and Deep Dasgupta did a fine job of surviving the first session and getting half-centuries, but the Motera crowd's reaction to their efforts pained me. Both Das and Dasgupta were booed off the ground by a crowd which had come today with the one-point agenda of watching Sachin Tendulkar bat. It could not have been worse for the youngsters, who had played so well.

Remember, when play started this morning, England were in with a real shout at leveling the series, or at least putting the Indian batting line-up under pressure. The openers ensured none of that happened, for which they certainly deserved warm applause, not taunts.

India could not have possibly gone for a win, even with their batting abilities. After the openers were dismissed, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar played sensibly and made certain that there would be no panic in the ranks. Of course, it was disappointing that a Test match that had seen four riveting days of cricket was meandering towards a dull draw.

Nasser Hussain should not have any complaints about the way his spinners performed. Ashley Giles and Richard Dawson bowled as well as they could have been expected to. Both realised the slowness of the wicket, and tried to bowl quicker through the air to force the batsmen into mistakes.

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

More Sanjay Manjrekar
Day 5, Lunch: A draw is assured

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