Taking Guard Graham Gooch

India are counting their riches. They made a bold statement in Mohali by going in with five bowlers even though, essentially, only two in Munaf Patel and Anil Kumble had the woods on England batsmen.

Patel’s emergence points to an India where talents are sprouting in far-away fields. They are hungry and competitive, skilled and mature beyond their years. They have control and confidence and are more than just one-trick pony. Suddenly, there is a scramble for places in the bowling department.

It would encourage the team management to do a ditto with their batting. Wasim Jaffer has made a statement of intent in the first two Tests, and in laying off the likes of V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly, the message is loud and clear for the rest.

A Sachin Tendulkar is still out of reach, but a Virender Sehwag has caught the hint palpably. Informed ones must tell me if they have ever seen Sehwag apply himself in such a manner as he did on the last day in Mohali. He got one of his rare good scores in the second innings and what is more, it could perhaps be his slowest Test fifty.

Munaf Patel is an example of talent sprouting infar-away fields

All that talk of leave-him-alone and ‘he knows only one way to bat’ has been tossed out of the window. The sense of self-preservation can make the best of us do strange things.

And finally to a man who played his first Test against me in Manchester in 1990. Anil Kumble was an unorthodox sight to us which was bemusing since India also had a regular conventional spinner in Narendra Hirwani. When I brought the side to India in 1993, he had started to feature a lot in our strategic discussions in the team meetings. From those days, it would appear he has not stopped evolving.

England froze in Mohali because they realised they no longer can treat him as an incoming medium-pacer. He was giving the ball a loop and his leg-breaks were turning. He seems to have finally got the one thing which has missed him all his career. In its absence, he relied on developing his googlies, variations in pace and even clever use of crease. Now if the leg-break has come to stay, Kumble could be good for 600 wickets and more!

England went away from Mohali wondering if they could ever raise a 400-plus total in this series. That’s the only thing which brings their pacers in equation. Or it’s a free slide.

Batting, as they say, is now elementary for England. The ghosts of Marcus Trescothick and Michael Vaughan are very much around. Nagpur now is so far away.

England’s collapse in Mohali was startling. It would bring to question their ability to stay focused in the sub-continent for more than a week. They appeared too soft, too fragile in conditions which was anything but hot and dusty. Besides, the pitch was on batters’ side and one-third of the overs were not played.