Bowling was poor, Balaji should now be dropped

I don’t understand why Saurav Ganguly declared the second innings so early. With the Kiwis having about 100 overs on the last day, 370 is potentially a gettable target. Also, it appeared in the morning that Ganguly didn’t want to enforce the follow-on. Instead of starting the day with the spinners, he could have used Zaheer and Balaji to exploit the morning wicket. Ganguly’s record as a captain is good, he is aggressive, but he does not encourage his players by example. Look at the other captains — has Saurav ever tried taking a diving catch?

Today, he was not helped by a poor bowling attack. I hope Balaji won’t be picked for the second Test. Ajit Agarkar, even Aavishkar Salvi, should have been picked for this match. Agarkar has played the Kiwis on their homeground and has the experience. Besides, he can bat too.

I think our spinners could not extract as much from the wicket as could Paul Wiseman. The man has proved himself and so has Daniel Vettori, given the fact that he was not given a bowl when India toured New Zealand.

Knowing the Motera pitch, it should benefit spinners the most on the fifth day, but it’s difficult to say anything now. Just that Ganguly should not let the match slip away. (As told to Soumya Arya)