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Tea India 172 for 4 (Tendulkar 46*, Yuvraj 14*) v England
Gautam Gambhir struck his second successive half-century © BCCI
The feverish speculation over the nature of the Eden Garden track finally came to an end as 83-year-old curator Prabhir Mukherjee unveiled a seemingly benign surface, the sort India's batsmen have feasted on at home in recent years. India have amassed 600-plus scores in the first innings in each of their three previous Kolkata Tests, but they didn't find run-making easy this time, especially in the second session against a high-quality England attack.
In the morning, the batsmen were mostly unruffled as both the quicks and the spinners found little encouragement from the pitch and the only wickets came from mistakes from the batsmen. England would have been happy to seen off the dangerous Virender Sehwag and India's form batsmen of the series, Cheteshwar Pujara, by lunch.
After the break, though, India's batting was tied down by a relentless Monty Panesar, who bowled a 21-over spell, with hardly a bad delivery, and asked plenty of questions with his variations in speed and flight. The runs dried up after lunch, and what seemed a shirtfront in the morning was made to look like a difficult track.
Panesar had Sachin Tendulkar, in the worst slump of his career, scratching around in a desperate attempt to find form. A fit-again Steven Finn, preferred to vice-captain Stuart Broad in this match, got the ball to swerve around just a touch to trouble Tendulkar outside off. James Anderson got the ball to reverse-swing, highlighted by a yorker that tailed in dramatically, and caused Tendulkar problems. Though there were a few trademark strokes, including an effortless backfoot punch down the ground for four, an extension of his slump seemed likely, and with it another flood of shrill retirement calls.
Tendulkar hung on, though. Kohli didn't, dismissed nicking to second slip for 6, another unconvincing Test effort from a man who is possibly the best ODI batsman at the moment. Tendulkar didn't look entirely comfortable even after two hours in the middle, but was on his highest score since the New Year's Test in Sydney, and closing in on a fifty.
The crowds at Eden Gardens will want him to carry on, unlike Gautam Gambhir who played a loose cut after scoring his second successive half-century. It wasn't his most fluent performance, getting beaten several times early on and edging a few, but he was far more assured once Panesar came on in as early as the eighth over. The footwork was more certain, and the tendency to be fidgety that he has repeatedly shown against the quicks reduced. Panesar was greeted with a slap past cover in the first over, and was launched over mid-on in his next.
Early on, Sehwag was looking comfortable, untroubled by the defensive fields England set for him and India rattled along at more than 4.5 an over. Then came a moment of madness. Sehwag played what looked like the shot of the session, a fluid whip towards midwicket; Samit Patel, often the butt of jokes about his weight, sprinted across from deep square leg to make a tumbling stop and Steven Finn was on hand to rifle the ball back accurately. There was plenty of time for three, but both batsmen had dawdled the first two, and though Gambhir screamed 'no,no' while looking at the fielder, Sehwag started to hare back for the third, and it was too late to turn back.
That immediately brought down the scoring, only seven coming off the next six overs. With the ball not doing much, Gambhir and Pujara calmly set about building the innings. With 15 minutes to go before lunch, though, Pujara misjudged the length of a Panesar arm ball and stayed back, only to miss the ball which hit the middle of the stumps. Panesar was whistling and dancing in celebration, knowing well the importance of the wicket.
By tea, England could have been completely on top, if a tight lbw appeal against Yuvraj Singh hadn't been turned down. Yuvraj survived two lbw shouts, and hit two lovely drives in an unbeaten 14 to keep Tendulkar company.
Gautam Gambhir struck his second successive half-century © BCCI
The feverish speculation over the nature of the Eden Garden track finally came to an end as 83-year-old curator Prabhir Mukherjee unveiled a seemingly benign surface, the sort India's batsmen have feasted on at home in recent years. India have amassed 600-plus scores in the first innings in each of their three previous Kolkata Tests, but they didn't find run-making easy this time, especially in the second session against a high-quality England attack.
In the morning, the batsmen were mostly unruffled as both the quicks and the spinners found little encouragement from the pitch and the only wickets came from mistakes from the batsmen. England would have been happy to seen off the dangerous Virender Sehwag and India's form batsmen of the series, Cheteshwar Pujara, by lunch.
After the break, though, India's batting was tied down by a relentless Monty Panesar, who bowled a 21-over spell, with hardly a bad delivery, and asked plenty of questions with his variations in speed and flight. The runs dried up after lunch, and what seemed a shirtfront in the morning was made to look like a difficult track.
Panesar had Sachin Tendulkar, in the worst slump of his career, scratching around in a desperate attempt to find form. A fit-again Steven Finn, preferred to vice-captain Stuart Broad in this match, got the ball to swerve around just a touch to trouble Tendulkar outside off. James Anderson got the ball to reverse-swing, highlighted by a yorker that tailed in dramatically, and caused Tendulkar problems. Though there were a few trademark strokes, including an effortless backfoot punch down the ground for four, an extension of his slump seemed likely, and with it another flood of shrill retirement calls.
Tendulkar hung on, though. Kohli didn't, dismissed nicking to second slip for 6, another unconvincing Test effort from a man who is possibly the best ODI batsman at the moment. Tendulkar didn't look entirely comfortable even after two hours in the middle, but was on his highest score since the New Year's Test in Sydney, and closing in on a fifty.
The crowds at Eden Gardens will want him to carry on, unlike Gautam Gambhir who played a loose cut after scoring his second successive half-century. It wasn't his most fluent performance, getting beaten several times early on and edging a few, but he was far more assured once Panesar came on in as early as the eighth over. The footwork was more certain, and the tendency to be fidgety that he has repeatedly shown against the quicks reduced. Panesar was greeted with a slap past cover in the first over, and was launched over mid-on in his next.
Early on, Sehwag was looking comfortable, untroubled by the defensive fields England set for him and India rattled along at more than 4.5 an over. Then came a moment of madness. Sehwag played what looked like the shot of the session, a fluid whip towards midwicket; Samit Patel, often the butt of jokes about his weight, sprinted across from deep square leg to make a tumbling stop and Steven Finn was on hand to rifle the ball back accurately. There was plenty of time for three, but both batsmen had dawdled the first two, and though Gambhir screamed 'no,no' while looking at the fielder, Sehwag started to hare back for the third, and it was too late to turn back.
That immediately brought down the scoring, only seven coming off the next six overs. With the ball not doing much, Gambhir and Pujara calmly set about building the innings. With 15 minutes to go before lunch, though, Pujara misjudged the length of a Panesar arm ball and stayed back, only to miss the ball which hit the middle of the stumps. Panesar was whistling and dancing in celebration, knowing well the importance of the wicket.
By tea, England could have been completely on top, if a tight lbw appeal against Yuvraj Singh hadn't been turned down. Yuvraj survived two lbw shouts, and hit two lovely drives in an unbeaten 14 to keep Tendulkar company.