Nagpur Test, Day 4, Lunch
Sunday, February 24, 2002

India showed a refreshingly positive attitude this morning. The team management needs to be complimented for showing an aggressive approach to the declaration. They had the option of carrying on till lunch or tea and putting up such a total that they would not even need to think of batting again. Instead, they chose to get Zimbabwe back in as early as possible.

I thought Sachin Tendulkar and Sanjay Bangar executed the plan quite beautifully. It just went to show how easily the run rate can be stepped up if the intent is there. Yesterday, India scored at 2.5 runs an over but this morning, we saw them rattling along at six to seven an over.

I think it's crucial that the team understands that they have to do more than just beat Zimbabwe. They have to try and play like a champion side. Merely beating Zimbabwe isn't going to take Indian cricket forward. With two or three important tours and the World Cup ahead of them, it's vital that they think and execute like a champion side.

I think we saw Bangar's maturity today. He realised that his job was to go out there and score quickly. I watched him in the morning at the nets and he was practicing the shots that he went on to play against the left-arm spinner. He was playing that lofted extra-cover drive and the lofted drive over mid-on. He had prepared himself for what he would encounter in the middle and I'm very pleased for him that it came off. He's worked hard at the first class level for a long time and his hundred here gives the selectors a welcome headache, while adding to the healthy competition for places that every top team needs.

Sanjay Manjrekar, stalwart of the Indian batting in the early `90s, was talking to Dileep Premachandran.

More Sanjay Manjrekar
Day 3, Close: India's batting defied logic'

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