Tendulkar erred in shot selection

It was deviod of grass, seemingly dry but not very solid and when play started, the ball behaved as Ravi Shastri had predicted in his pitch report. The bounce was low, and the pace negligible. That, looked at purely in cricketing terms, perhaps could not be considered to be ideal.

All things considered though, there is still the possibility of interesting Test match. India finished the day at247 for eight, which meant another day in favour of Pakistan, with Saqlain the destroyer.

It certainly could have been worse for India, as Mohd Azharuddin who went on get 67 runs, was dropped off a caught and bowled chance, a simple one at that by Mushtaq Ahmed on the first ball after tea. Azhar was then 29. With the early departure of Tendulkar, Azhar was the man who came in and took back the initiative from the Pakistani bowlers, trying to lead the recovery.As in the first Test at Chennai, Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq proved to be the most penetrative of the Pakistani bowlers and it was the captain himself who got the first breakthrough. It came a bit later than they would have liked, but considering the nature of the pitch, any wickets for the fast bowlers could almost be considered a bonus. Ramesh and Laxman gave India a very respectable start and were both looking quite composed, until Laxman lazily played across a Akram inswinger and was comprehensively bowled for 35.

The prized wicket thoughwas, and I suppose will be for some time to come, Sachin Tendulkar. Saqlain had taken his wicket twice in Chennai, though the second was after Sachin made 136. Here he was to be credited with his wicket again. Sachin may consider himself a bit unlucky with the LBW decision but Saqlain still managed to deceive him for the third ocassion in as many innings with the delivery that runs on with the arm instead of spinning in to the right hander. As with the dismissals in Chennai, Tendulkar on viewing the replays may acknowledge a slight misjudgement in his shot selection.If Tendulkar8217;s shot could have been considered a slight misjudgement, the shot played by Ramesh was a colossal mistake.

Cross batted shots on a pitch with unpredictable bounce are surely not what the doctor ordered and Saqlain was elated when he saw the ball rocket onto Ramesh8217;s off stump to be dismissed for a well-played 60 that could have been many more.

Still he is a young man, hopefully on a upward learning curve, and there should be muchto come from him.