Well, the morning was not entirely joyless. VVS Laxman showed why he is considered the most beautiful batsman in contemporary cricket, and Ajit Agarkar offered a magnificent explanation for why he was ever considered an allrounder. In a Test that has offered unadulterated despondency to the Indian fan, this was a minor consolation. Laxman and Agarkar added 126 runs for the seventh wicket, India's best in the match, and showed up the England attack for what it was: efficient, controlled and professional, but one that could be mastered with skill and application. And by adding 227 for the last four wickets, 121 of them in 28 overs before lunch today, the late order also showed that the pitch was still a batting beauty on the fifth day. While Laxman and Agarkar ensured that even though India were overwhelmed they were not entirely disgraced, at another level their display also made the overall Indian performance more unacceptable. If only the batsmen had showed a little more heart and grit, if only the bowlers had been more savvy and disciplined ... and if only Sourav Ganguly had been more tactically astute.

India couldn't have hoped for a better set-up for the series opener. England were without their best batsman, Marcus Trescothick - whose stature has been rising with every match - and their first-choice new-ball pair, Darren Gough and Andrew Caddick. And they were playing on a pitch baked dry by days of unrelenting, almost Indian, sunshine. Going into the match, Nasser Hussain must have reflected on the cruel irony of fate: not only had he been robbed off three of his best players, he was also denied home advantage. But the story of this Test was how well England used the conditions - how Hussain marshalled his resources, how he expertly denied India the opportunity to express themselves, how he out-thought and outsmarted the opposition.

On the first morning, India had reduced England to 70 for 3, and the next morning they had them at 357 for 7, but only one bowler - Zaheer Khan - ever looked like taking a wicket. The rest, distressingly, never even looked capable of containment. As captains and human beings, Ganguly and Hussain have a lot in common: they are both feisty and combative characters who wear passion on their sleeves as if it was their birthright. Both have rallied and roused the young members of their sides in the manner of true leaders - but Hussain, though Ganguly will be loath to concede this, has won the onfield battle by a handsome distance.

You felt Hussain's presence on the field at every moment in this match, and you could almost see his brain ticking over. He was sharp to spot the flaws, however minuscule, in his opponents, and had the acumen and imagination to exploit them ruthlessly. Every bowling change, every movement in the field was part of a grand scheme, and Hussain was willing to be flexible if one move went wrong. Ganguly, on the other hand, seemed resigned to his fate once the England batsmen got going in both innings.

That India got to just six short of 400 in the last innings makes their slackening of purpose and resolve even more glaring. Some more resourcefulness - a few runs saved here, a couple of wickets taken there, some runs scored somewhere else - could have made the match even closer.

As Ganguly pointed out after the match, India lost because of their abysmal first-innings batting, which produced fewer runs than the last four wickets managed in the second one. On a flat pitch, it was an inexcusable performance. But sterner tests await them at Trent Bridge and Headingley, where the conditions are likely to be kinder to the seam bowlers.

The Indians blundered by not picking Harbhajan Singh in this Test, and now they are presented with a selection nightmare. Despite Ashish Nehra's poor showing here, he is still a better choice than Agarkar as a Test bowler. But how can India sacrifice their only centurymaker on the tour so far? Ganguly will have to gather his composure and discover a way to impose his authority on the field.

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

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