The diehard Indian supporter will perhaps rue the lack of luck India have enjoyed so far - the ball kept low to Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly got a horrendous lbw decision, and Rahul Dravid, after batting flawlessly and valiantly for three hours, fell to his first indiscretion - but to be honest India haven't been worthy of any luck in this match. It's one of cricket's oldest clichés, but it held true of India today: they have been outbatted, outbowled and outfielded. It's a pity that England couldn't finish off the match today: Hussain and his boys deserved a day off. India had only a slim outside chance of saving the Test when play began, and since no help was likely from the weather, they first had to keep England in the field for as long as possible and then grit their teeth and bat out of their skins to occupy the crease for ever. But in the morning their purpose was only limited to setting a scattered field, which amply displayed the scattered state of their minds. There were two men on the fence on the off and three on the leg, as if the captain wasn't sure what line his bowlers should or would bowl. England knocked off 117 runs in 19.4 overs without having to take many risks. All credit to Michael Vaughan and John Crawley for that, but the Indian bowling was hopeless, the fielding lethargic and dispirited, and - as is beginning to seem like a trend now when things are getting out of hand - you couldn't find the captain.

Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar bowled like net bowlers helping the batsmen perfect their strokemaking skills: they were short and wide on both sides of the wicket and quickly helped dispel any anxiety Vaughan and Crawley might have felt approaching their centuries. Nehra was supposed to be India's best bowler in the match, but on the evidence of this performance, he could henceforth be competing for a berth with Agarkar, who ought not have been playing in this Test in the first place.

And Anil Kumble, though the record-books will show that he got six wickets, would have served India much better in this match if he had just done what is supposed to be his big asset: bowl line and length, and bowl tight. None for 50 in 24 overs would have had more meaning for India here than 3 for 84.

When India batted, they needed an opening stand of about 150 - and for a while it seemed they would get that in a hurry. Wasim Jaffer hit the ball off the back foot as his Mumbai team-mates know he can, and Virender Sehwag punched with the panache and vigour he had shown in the first innings. But Simon Jones, who has had a wonderful debut, castled Sehwag with sheer pace, then Jaffer became Vaughan's first Test victim. But still the opening stand was worth 61, which turned out to be the second-best of the innings so far.

Bishan Singh Bedi isn't Sunil Gavaskar's greatest fan. But Bedi, who was in the media centre for most of the day, said when the Indian innings started that only two things could save India from defeat: rain, or Gavaskar. India have scored more than 400 in a fourth-innings run-chase three times in the last 30 years, and twice they needed a century from Gavaskar to do it.

Sachin Tendulkar, for all the runs he has scored and records that he has broken, is beginning to face uncomfortable questions about his true greatness in the absence of a definitive Test innings that has helped India win or save a Test match, since his searing 155 at Chennai against Australia in 1998. For the last time he saved India in a Test was as a 17-year-old at Old Trafford in 1990. He was a disconsolate figure as he walked back to the pavilion, accompanied by a member of the Melbourne Cricket Club (pray, where did he come from, and how was he allowed onto the forbidden turf?). The ball had kept low, but Tendulkar had played the wrong line. His stumps lay splayed behind him, and it was a devastating sight for Indian cricket.

VVS Laxman is still holding the fort, but all Indians know that there can be no miracle this time. Ajit Agarkar finally showed that he can put bat to ball without guiding it to a fielder's hands, but it's all too little and too late. They have merely ensured that people like us will be back at Lord's tomorrow. A joyless morning beckons.

Sambit Bal is editor of Wisden.com India and Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.

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