Test 2 Day 1- Advantage India

England 169/7

India did two things right on the first day- won the toss and elected to field.

From that point on, it was just a question of not trying too much, keeping the ball there and thereabouts and letting the conditions do the rest. And the Indian bowlers, barring RP Singh to some extent, did just that.

Couple of things that made no sense

1. The persistence with Ganguly for a prolonged spell post tea. And then replacing him with Sachin Tendulkar with two new batsmen at the crease.
   
2. The tendency of the Indian bowlers and fielders to lose the plot somewhat in the last half and hour before tea. England was under the cosh. India needed to keep the pressure up by stemming the flow of runs and letting the pressure get to Collingwood and Cook. Instead, we had a flurry of fours and a 44 run partnership was conjured up in double quick time.

So, going into Day 2, India holds three of the four aces. The first task for India is to wrap up the tail in the first hour while restricting the score to below 200.

200 and upwards is a huge psychological boost for the English team, given their travails today. And India will do well to deny England any crumbs of comfort.

Which means that India show positive intent with the bat. English commentators have not stopped reminding is that this is a second string bowling attack and just how wonderfully they performed in spite of being a second string bowling line up.

Now is the time and the opportunity to remind them why exactly this bowling line up is not considered England's first choice bowling attack.

India needs to be relentless with the bat, despite loss of wickets.

Forget the Fab 4 or Famous 5 or Secret Seven or whatever else the hype meisters call them, India needs to overhaul England's first innings total as quickly as possible. And the reason for this is that with every run that India scores, England shifts to damage limitation/damage control mode.

And if England cannot attack the Indian batsmen, the English bowling becomes less potent. And that opens up the possibility for India to target Madhusuden Panesar for sustained periods in this game.

Which in turn sets the platform the remaining Test and ODIs to follow.

And if conditions get more batsmen friendly, as they are supposed to on Days 2 and 3, India's batsmen have a huge advantage to do just that.

England played to India's batting reputation in the first test in spite of bowling friendly conditions. This is the time to remind them exactly why India's batting has the reputation in the first place.