Nagpur Test, Day 1, Close
Thursday, February 21, 2002

After a few unhappy days of Test match cricket against England, this was a satisfactory day for India. Against weak opponents, which Zimbabwe clearly are, it was crucial to assert dominance from the beginning, and India have done just that, winning two sessions in succession. Indian coach John Wright must be a very happy man today because his boys never let go of the initiative.

Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath used the semi new ball beautifully after lunch. After tea, they were relentless and exposed the limitations of the Zimbabweans ruthlessly. Zaheer Khan's return to form was perhaps the best news for Indian cricket. His pace has returned, and what he needed to do to cement his place in the side was take wickets. He got three today, and he will be a more confident bowler in the second innings. He had two very effective weapons – the yorker and the short-pitched ball - working today.

Anil Kumble, I thought, was a little fortunate to take three wickets. He got a lucky decision against Grant Flower who didn't appear to have touched the ball and didn't bowl as consistently as we have seen him bowl before. He bowled a few great deliveries and though he happy with the wickets, he wouldn't pleased with the number of bad balls he bowled.

Harbhajan Singh was the better spinner, though he had no wickets to show for it. The remarkable aspect about his bowling was that he didn't look despondent when wickets were not coming and stuck to bowling an immaculate line just outside the off stump and using the bounce off the pitch. He seems to be maturing by the day.

The Zimbabweans, I felt, failed to attack enough. Particularly, Stuart Carlisle, who even after being well set, let the Indian bowlers dictate terms. They had some useful partnerships, but at no stage were they pushing the Indians too much. It's obvious that they rely too much on Andy Flower.

This Nagpur pitch is marginally different from the ones I have seen before. The ball tends to stand up a little after pitching and it might not be easy driving on the up. The strokemakers in the Indian side will have to watch out for balls that stop. But with the quality of batting they possess, they will have no excuses for not taking a big lead. But before that, they will need to knock out the last two wickets quickly.

Sanjay Manjrekar, stalwart of the Indian batting in the early 90s, was talking to Sambit Bal.

More Sanjay Manjrekar
Day 1, Close: 'India reverse the tide'

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd