Second day,no show

Indian batsmen get an early taste of trials ahead after being reduced to 138 for 8.

Before the start of the series opening tour game,England skipper and Somersets guest player Andrew Strauss had a chat with the squad. Not giving an inch to the visiting team before the first Test at Lords was his brief to the county boys. And as India finished at 138 for 8 at the end of Day 2,after Somerset had scored 425,Strauss would have been composing a long thank you note that he might leave behind in Taunton before he heads for London.

Nick Compton,Somersets second-highest scorer at 88 after Arul Suppiah 156,speaks about Strausss short meeting. He was keen that we played the game really hard. He wanted England to have every bit of psychological advantage that they can from this game, he says. He told us that if we keep Zaheer Khan out there for 90 overs and make his legs more tired,it will help the England cause and so would getting Tendulkar out for not many runs. He also mentioned to get one over their experienced batsmen and put a seed of doubt in their minds.

Compton spoke about the Strauss talk before play started and by evening it was clear that Somerset had gone much beyond the English captains brief. Zaheer had been forced to stay on field for 96 overs as the home team declared the first innings at 425/3,while the seeds of doubts were sown deep and nice in the minds of the experienced Indian batsmen.

The one advice each batsman gets before travelling to England concerns leaving the ball. The Indians today realised how,under overcast conditions,it was easier said than done.

Gautam Gambhir,after edging a ball pitched outside off stump in the hand of the wicketkeeper,shadow-practised the leaving the ball drill several times on his way to the hut. It was the kind of dismissal that gets batsmen thinking. And in case the problem persists,it can blow up into a slump or a crisis. Rahul Dravid,after a confident 50-minute stay at the crease,too chased an over-pitched ball that was way outside the off-stump and was caught in the slips. If given a second chance,he would have shouldered arms to the ball. Wriddhiman Sahas dismissal later in the day compounded the problem. Watching batsmen getting out playing shots to widish balls,he tried to hide his bat behind his pads to a ball that seemed to be going away. But on its way to the wicketkeeper,the ball took the edge.

The second sagely tip for England-bound batsmen goes as: Regardless of your stay at the crease,you are never in.

Like Dravid,Tendulkar too looked in supreme touch. He played a straight drive,a flick off the pads,a backfoot punch through cover and a brutal cut to point. Any other day or any other country,these were enough clues to safely say that a Tendulkar ton is on the way. But after exactly an hour,Tendulkar misread the trajectory and was caught behind.

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The one bowler who caused most of the damage was Charl Myles Willoughby,a 36-year-old left-arm medium pacer. The South African-born Willoughby picked up five wickets four of those in his opening spell.

While Gambhir,Dravid and Tendulkar were out playing attacking shots,Abhinav Mukund and Yuvraj Singh were lbw while playing defensive shots to deliveries that moved off the pitch. Attack or defence,play or leave; there is never a safe shot on these pitches.

In case the Indians want some solace after their dismal batting display,they can rewind to the past. First games and batting collapses have historically coincided. They have fallen but have quickly got up. They never quite hit the ground running they stroll,jog and then take speed.

Scoreboard:

Somerset 1st Innings: A Strauss c Saha b Mishra 78; A Suppiah c Dravid b Sreesanth 156; N Compton c Yuvraj b Raina 88; C Jones not out 51; J Hildreth not out 30.

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Extras: b1,lb4,w2,nb15 22. Total for 3 wkts in 96 overs 425. FoW: 1-101,2-334,3-365. Bowling: Zaheer 20-2-72-0,Sreesanth 20-3-88-1,Munaf 17.1-7-32-0,Mishra 19.5-0-99-1,Raina 9-0-53-1,Yuvraj 10-0-76-0.

Indians 1st innings: A Mukund lbw Willoughby 18; G Gambhir c Buttler b Willoughby 21; R Dravid c Hildreth b Willoughby 17; S Tendulkar c Buttler b Meschede 26; Yuvraj Singh lbw Willoughby 0; S Raina not out 30; W Saha c Buttler b Trego 0; Z Khan b Thomas 15; A Mishra c Jones b Willoughby 6; S Sreesanth not out 0.

Extras lb 1,w 1,nb 3 5. Total 8 wickets in 39 overs 138. FoW: 1-32,2-51,3-72,4-76,5-89,6-90,7-123,8-132. Bowling: C Willoughby 16-5-50-5,A Thomas 10-1-48-1,P Trego 9-2-29-1,C Meschede 4-2-10-1.