The most striking thing about today's play was the improvement in the pitch. But then, that has been a feature of the surfaces at the Eden Gardens down the years. The last two teams to win here, Pakistan (against India, March 1999) and India (against Australia, March 2001), made more runs in the second innings as the pitch eased up to be a batsmen's delight after the opening day. Wavell Hinds and Chris Gayle threatened to make it through the day unconquered, and they would have but for Harbhajan Singh once again showcasing his unique ability to pick up wickets in a heap. Hinds and Gayle deserve praise for their attitude. As wasn't the case earlier in the series, they knuckled down and carried on after getting starts. They showed the sort of application that has been missing in West Indies' batting for most of this series.

In the morning, the West Indian bowlers once again illustrated their inexperience and relative lack of ability. Apart from Mervyn Dillon, the others were quite clueless, especially against the unorthodox tactics adopted by Javagal Srinath. He, more than anyone else, upset their rhythm, with an approach that has never worked for him against the better sides.

Parthiv Patel was once again outstanding with the bat, on both sides of the wicket. Apart from that duck on debut in England, he has consistently chipped in with useful scores and his highest score today saw him take a step further, and put together one frustrating partnership after another.

The pitch should be its docile third-day self tomorrow and, if Carl Hooper, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and - particularly - Chris Gayle bat as we know they can, India might find themselves needing to wipe off a first-innings deficit. At long last, we have a genuine contest to watch, thanks in the main to two left-handers from Jamaica.

Sanjay Manjrekar, the mainstay of India's batting in the late 1980s and early '90s, will be providing the Expert View on every day of this Test series. He was speaking to Dileep Premachandran. More Expert View
Day 1

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