Bangalore Test, Day 4, Close
Saturday, December 22, 2001

Sourav Ganguly is a lucky man. For the second time in a month, the weather saved India's blushes. Last month in Port Elizabeth, rain washed out more than two sessions of play on the fourth day, and India batted out the fifth to salvage a draw.

England clearly had the upper hand and would have pressed for a win, but now a draw is the most likely result, especially with an 80% chance of rain tomorrow.

It was disappointing to see India struggle at home against an inexperienced England team. Matthew Hoggard and Andy Flintoff had impressive spells in conditions which were straight out of England in the early part of their summer. Both the seamers put the ball in the right place, and exploited conditions which would have been familiar to them.

In the few overs that England batted, their positive attitude was apparent. Nasser Hussain was a trifle defensive at Ahmedabad, but he seemed to have learnt from his error and was keen to force the issue. Unfortunately, rain spoilt his plans.

If tomorrow does turn out to be brighter, England will surely try to knock up some quick runs in the first session, and then put India in and hope that the seamers do the job. Scoring runs against this Indian attack should not be difficult – the three spinners will not find much help, while India have just Javagal Srinath to exploit conditions which are ideal for seam bowling.

It's a slim chance, but it's the only one for England.

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

More from Manjrekar
Day 3, Tea: Giles one up on Sachin

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