A bee sting which had Sourav Ganguly hobbling off the field in the firstsession was probably the most unpleasant incident for the Indians on a day in which things went pretty much according to plan.

The bowling was far more disciplined - barring Ajit Agarkar's continued waywardness - the fielding was spirited, and the batting, save Virender Sehwag's characteristic waft, admirably restrained. The compromise reached with ICC seemed to lift a huge load off the players' shoulders, and the entire team were far more focused than on the first day.

Harbhajan Singh led the way with his ninth five-for, but the fightback began before he started his first spell of the day. Zaheer Khan produced a corker to get rid of Michael Vaughan, but even more impressive was Sanjay Bangar's impeccable control over a sustained period. The pace was nothing more than military medium, but the line consistently hovered around off stump, and the stock away-swinger was cleverly mixed with the straighter one or the indipper. Then, when called upon to open the batting, he was solid in defence and hardly gave the bowlers a whiff.

Bangar's has been a vital inclusion in the Indian line-up. His 68 at Headingley was overshadowed by three centuries in the Indian innings, but was worth just as much. Here, he once again showed excellent technique, and was hardly bothered by the fact that the runs weren't coming.

If Bangar was discipline personified, Agarkar was quite the opposite. He had been lacklustre throughout the first day, and continued in similar vein, spraying it all over the place. The pace was at least 10 mph more than Bangar's, but that counted for little. Bowling figures of 24-4-111-0 might finally lead the Indian think-tank to believe that his inclusion in the line-up is a luxury they can't afford, even allowing for his newfound form with the bat.

Harbhajan disappointed on the first day, but turned in a delightful display of offspin bowling today. The line was just outside off, and his ability to mix the straighter one with his regular delivery meant the batsmen were never entirely sure when facing him.

Bangar and Rahul Dravid were exemplary when facing the new ball, but Sehwag made a mess of it again. He was dismissed in similar fashion at Headingley, but showed that the message obviously hadn't sunk in. It's easy to condone his tendency to flay at the ball - on his day, Sehwag can demolish a bowling attack and snatch the initiative - but India need more from their openers. In their last nine first innings in Tests, the openers have never added more than 18 runs, and the first-wicket partnership hasn't stretched beyond eight overs.

It's a damning statistic, and has forced the No. 3 to perform the role of a virtual opener. Eight out of those nine times, Dravid has walked in at the fall of the first wicket, and, before this knock, he had scored 387 runs at over 55 per innings.

His innings today was ample testimony to the rich vein of form he's in. However, there's plenty more for India to do, to feel safe in the match. The Dravid-Bangar partnership needs to carry on, but when a wicket does fall, Sachin Tendulkar will walk out. The pitch is a beauty, and the bowling attack ordinary. Will we witness a Sachin Special?

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