India vs England: T3D2

Highlights from Day Two:

• Indian Fielding - utterly atrocious. The dropped catches by Sehwag and Kumble stood out, and the overall ground fielding was abysmal. However, the incident that was truly pathetic was Irfan Pathan's catch for six off Flintoff. For an international cricketer to so casually take a catch while stepping over a boundary rope is inexcusable. For one who is used to being on boundary patrol at long leg, it's even worse. I've watched the replay countless times, and there is no reason he couldn't have taken the catch inside the field of play. Greg Chappell must have been livid.

• Munaf Patel - my respect for this young lad continues to increase. He bowled with purpose and intent, and didn't let the lack of support with the ball or in the field get to him at all. Nor was he thrown off by two warnings for running down the pitch. I only wish he had the genuine pace I had heard about for the last two years. If he can push into the high 80s, then he can be something close to a Waqar Younis in his pomp, as early as it is to make such a judgement. He's already got the Queen's English down pat - we saw that pretty clearly!

• Indian Batting - as I've said, with the 5 batsmen selected, you're effectively playing with one batsman, Rahul Dravid. That could not have been more evident last night, especially with the continued feeble efforts of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.It feels as if Sehwag has been dismissed the same way every time I've seen him bat recently, and similarly, this was far from the first time that Tendulkar has poked hesitantly and edged through to the keeper. A great batsman has to respond to being worked out - we'll soon see what Sehwag in particular is made of.

India's grip on this series is loosening fast. England are in as good a position as they could hope for, knowning that another wicket tomorrow exposes the tail in effect. Rahul Dravid will be hoping to bat through the day, because if the Indian first innings does not last until day 4, and the pitch gets harder for batting, then there's going to be nowhere to hide.