Bangalore Test, Day 1
Wednesday, December 19, 2001

Clearly Michael Vaughan's dismissal is the main talking point of the day. I won't say it could turn the whole game, but it was an important decision and could prove to be costly.

Michael was playing well. I think he'd be the first to admit it wasn't the most sensible thing to do. But then I think he'd also feel he was acting in a gentlemanly way by handing the ball to short leg.

It's a question of whether certain actions are in the spirit of the game, and that's purely a judgment call. It's not a question of right or wrong. If the Indians felt that the appeal was in the spirit of the game, then that's their call. I know what my gut feeling and Michael's gut feeling is about it all, and I really don't want to say any more than that.

I'm not very happy with our position at the end of the day. It's a good wicket, and I felt fluent while I was out there and was batting as well as I have. Everything was going to plan up till Michael's dismissal. Overall, up until that last half hour, I thought we played pretty well. Everyone's in good nick. But in those situations, when you've played yourself in, it's important that someone goes on and gets a hundred.

It's the fact that there were several soft dismissals that leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. We can't afford that. I don't mind the bowlers getting you out when the ball is spinning, but to lose wickets this way isn't good enough. We should be 250 for 3 at the close and instead we're 250 for 6. It's a blow.

I know what people will be saying about Andy Flintoff getting out in the way he did. It's just the result of not getting any runs. Your brain goes when you're under pressure. It's easy for me, now I'm scoring a few, or for all the so-called experts on the periphery to have a go at him. But if he was 20 or 30 not out he wouldn't have played that shot.

All batsmen go through bad trots like this – I know that better than anyone. You don't know where your next run is coming from and each time you walk out there's more and more pressure on you. Your heart's going at 100 miles an hour. But Freddie's just got to hang in there. He needs to relax.

We need to get 350 on this pitch and make sure it's them batting last on it, not us. It could get a bit uneven by the end of days three and four, so we'll need to be very disciplined. It will all get a bit Groundhog Day-ish, I'm afraid, with us trying to bat for as long as possible, then bowling a tight line and length and the odd bouncer – just like at Ahmedabad.

At least I've won two tosses on the bounce now. Soon people will be calling me the luckiest captain in the world! I knew it had to come down heads sooner or later.

It was a good toss to win, as well, which makes it all slightly gut-wrenching. We'd played so well, and then came that little half-hour.

Nasser Hussain was talking to Camilla Rossiter. His thoughts will appear on Wisden.com throughout the Test and one-day series.

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