India v England, Match 4
Monday, January 28, 2002

For the first time in this series, England disappointed with their performance. Batting first at Kanpur virtually assures a team a win, but England let slip that advantage, in spite of the excellent start from Nick Knight and Marcus Trescothick.

In a repeat of their performance in Chennai, the Indian bowlers did a good job on a flat track. Apart from Ajit Agarkar, all of them bowled a consistently good length and line, and had impressive figures to show for their efforts.

England's batsmen seem to be wary of India's powerful middle order. In trying to post a target that would test Sachin & co. they have often taken needless risks and fallen way short of even a competitive score. They seemed to be eying 260 today, and in the end managed only 218. I don't think that was ever enough to challenge India, even though Hussain seemed satisfied with that score when he spoke at the post-match presentation.

The Indian think-tank probably made a conscious decision to take advantage of the hardness of the new ball and the field restrictions in the early overs. They went after the bowlers, and took more risks than such a target might have warranted.

Virender Sehwag is fast becoming a vital cog in the Indian batting line-up. He has exceptional touch, but what makes him so dangerous is his range of strokes. It's very difficult for a captain to contain a batsman who can play shots to every part of the field, especially in perfect batting conditions. Sehwag took a few risks, playing aerial shots with abandon, but his early aggression made the target look completely inadequate.

Sachin Tendulkar cleverly played the supporting role, content to stay at the crease to steady the innings in the case of a collapse.

Sourav Ganguly should be mightily pleased with this win. After Anil Kumble's astute captaincy at Chennai, Ganguly would have been under tremendous pressure to deliver immediately. He has always enjoyed bowling at Kanpur - he took 5 for 34 in his previous match here against Zimbabwe - and that fine five-over spell set the tone. He batted with refreshing authority too, in his quickfire 26.

A word about the umpiring. Hussain might feel hard done by a couple of decisions that went against his team early in the Indian innings. Tendulkar might have got a nick down the leg side off the first ball, and while the umpire cannot be crucified for failing to tell if it was bat or pad, it was absolutely baffling to see him declare the ball a wide. Sehwag also got away with what seemed a fairly adjacent lbw appeal in the second over.

Some of the umpiring decisions in this series have been quite inexplicable. The England players were understandably a little edgy when some of their appeals were turned down. I hope the umpiring does not sour what has so far been an entertaining series, played in good spirit.

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

More from Manjrekar
Stand-in stands tall
Slow pitch no excuse

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd