Port Elizabeth Test, Day 5, Lunch
Tuesday, November 20, 2001

Things looked very bright for India with the sun coming out, the pitch playing a lot better and with virtually no lateral movement to test the batsmen. Deep Dasgupta and Rahul Dravid showed tremendous application, but India are still not out of the woods.

Dravid loves to come on to the front foot, but in this innings he has made a conscious effort to stay on the back foot and not reach for the ball. Survival was uppermost in his mind.

Dasgupta has shown admirable temperament and his mental outlook should be an invaluable asset for India. As he improves with the passage of time, both in front of and behind the wickets, he could serve his country for a long time to come.

As I have often said, this South African attack is very mediocre, barring Shaun Pollock, and it was proved again today. The other bowlers looked exposed when there was not much help for them from the wicket or the atmosphere, and facing batsmen on the defensive.

There is no doubt in my mind that the decision of the match referee against the Indians must have fired them up. Yes, the Indians must thank Mike Denness for giving them the motivation to save the Test.

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

More Sanjay Manjrekar
The old-fashioned art of defence
India hurtling to defeat

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd