Delhi Test, Day 4, Close
Sunday, March 3, 2002

When the Indians went out to bat this morning, I was most curious about the approach and method Sachin Tendulkar would adopt against Ray Price, who has bothered him throughout the series. Lack of arrogance is one of the most remarkable aspects of Tendulkar's batting and he took the sensible route by avoiding Price. Some would call it the easy way out, but I would call it smart and pragmatic.

Tendulkar didn't play Price for the first 45 minutes, but took runs off Grant Flower and Heath Streak at the other end and it went a long way in relieving the pressure the Indians would have felt early morning. And SS Das provided just the right kind of support, stonewalling against Price, but taking the odd two.

No praise can be enough for Price though, who was an unknown quantity when he landed here, but he will leave with reputation enormously enhanced. He reminds so much of a great left-arm spinner who never played for India: Padmakar Shivalkar. Both have similar styles and approach to bowling.

Shivalkar was a deadly bowler in India because he knew exactly how to bowl in these conditions. Like him, Price bowls the perfect trajectory – not too much flight – and looks to turn the ball just enough. Not for them the art of deception and beating batsman in the air; pitches in India give spinners enough assistance to beat the bat with turn alone. Price also goes wide off the crease and the batsman is always left to guess the angle of the ball. Also, the rotation of his fingers gives nothing away and the batsman is never sure whether the ball will leave him on come back in.

Like Andy Flower, who surprises you with his skills against quality spin bowling for a batsman who sees so little of it in Zimbabwe, Price surprises you with his ability to exploit Indian conditions so well.

Although India won the match in the end, the way they achieved it will leave John Wright frowning. They have wrapped up the series 2-0, but the manner in which they have played wouldn't have done the morale of the team any good. Zimbabwe, who fought back so gallantly in this Test can walk away with their heads high.

The umpiring in this match was not world class and I must say that Asoka de Silva had a poor game. Like most good umpires, he tends to rule in favour of batsmen unless he is absolutely sure that they are out. But he took this approach too far and Harbhajan Singh was very, very lucky to survive. Even Tendulkar, I thought, benefited in the first innings. While this can be called a case of a good umpire having a bad match, I consider de Silva too batsman-friendly and he could do with a little more sympathy for the bowlers.

Sanjay Manjrekar, mainstay of the Indian batting in the late 1980s and early '90s, was talking to Sambit Bal.

More Sanjay Manjrekar
Day 4, Close: Tendulkar holds the key
Day 4, Tea: A lesson learnt for Harbhajan

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