Vettori class for Sehwag in captaincy

For offie Jeetan Patel, there was a short mid-wicket in front of mid-on and short extra cover and mid-off. The two square boundaries were vacant. With the batsmen trying to play straight,there was hardly any room,the only way out being the aerial route. Gautam Gambhir hit a boundary over mid-on and Rahul Dravid hit a straight six,but such shots were few and far in between.

Attack or defend?

The dilemma of whether to attack or defend was responsible for the low scoring rate. When Gambhir and Dravid tried to play square to the wicket,they missed the ball,but luckily were not in line of the stumps.

With the pacers in action,Vettori placed a short cover and short extra cover close to each other,with the boundary behind unmanned. Chris Martin and James Franklin bowled just short of good length,inviting batsmen to step out. A perfect hit was a certain four but a miscued shot could well be caught by the two men.

There was also a subtle change of bowlers. Vettori got Jesse Ryder in when Dravid had to play the last over before lunch — Dravid had been out to the part-timer in the first innings. Similarly,Tendulkar had to face Patel early. The Indians,though,weren’t going to repeat their mistakes. Vettori even gave the final over of the day to Ross Taylor but nothing seemed to work.