Colombo Test, Day 4, Lunch
Saturday, September 1, 2001

The climb has started for India. They are only in the foothills and there is still a long way to go. The loss of Das's wicket just before lunch could prove to be crucial. It puts immense pressure on the remaining batsmen.

Most teams have this theory that if you keep the Indian batsmen quiet they will play into your hands - sooner rather than later. There is also the belief that once India lose a wicket, they collapse in a heap. There have been only a few occasions when these theories have been disproved. The most notable was Kolkata a few months ago, when Laxman and Dravid shared that epic series-turning partnership against Australia.

This theory was behind the fields Jayasuriya set this morning - which might have baffled quite a few. Jayasuriya was content to cut off the boundaries and keep men in the deep, with the conviction that the Indians would slip up. Das's dismissal vindicated him to an extent.

Das has been in great nick throughout the series but his inability to convert fifties into something more substantial is disappointing. It's something that he will have to work on.

Ramesh continues in his new role as India's grafter at the top of the order. If he intends to stick to such an approach, he has to carry it through. It's not good enough to score just 30 or 40 runs. You sometimes get the feeling that the defensive mindset mentally drains him to such an extent that he loses concentration after getting to 40.

After lunch, the Indian batsmen will need to put in a superhuman effort to keep this match alive. Perhaps they can derive inspiration from Kolkata.

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

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