India Must Ride On England's Frustration To Assume More Control

This is going to be an attritional Test, one that forces patience, perseverance and creativity to surface as the key traits of not only the two teams battling it out in Trent Bridge but also of all those watching India's first Test against England in the Investec Series. The players who showcased these characteristics on Wednesday were well rewarded.

Murali Vijay showed application through the opening day and Mahendra Singh Dhoni brought in the element of creativity during the 81-run partnership to help India finish the day at 259 for four. The fifth-wicket pair has already negotiated nine overs against the second new ball with some comfort and must tackle the opening hour with a similar approach if India are to get well and truly on top.

However, India will have to show some urgency and up the rate of scoring as well since the nature of the track is unlikely to change drastically for their bowlers to fare better than the home attack. Indeed, the track has been quite lifeless, not offering any encouragement to the bowlers by way of pace or bounce.

The Indian batsmen were in some trouble only when the England bowlers obtained reverse swing in the second session on Wednesday. There could be a cloud cover over the next couple of days and help the swing bowlers just that bit. But India cannot be left hoping that there will some uneven bounce, too, for their bowlers to exploit as we often see on some tracks back home.

One of India's allies will be the frustration in the England camp as evidenced by premier paceman James Anderson's testimony against the pitch.

"We are amazing hosts... as bowlers we want our nicks to carry and for there to be a more even contest between bat and ball but our attitude was fantastic. We're probably as frustrated as everyone else is watching. But there's not a lot we can do about it at this stage, we have to stick at it and try and winkle out six wickets (on Thursday) if we can," Anderson said.

There was an important pointer for Dhoni in Alastair Cook's field-placing. Of course, the England captain earned his team catches off Cheteshwar Pujara at unconventional silly mid-on and Ajinkya Rahane at silly point but a number of edges fell short of the slip fielders. They indicated that the fielders were standing too far back despite Matt Prior urging them to move further up.

Barring perhaps the selection of Stuart Binny ahead of a specialist spinner in R Ashwin, Dhoni has made the right moves thus far. The most significant has been his decision to bat at No. 6 rather coming lower down the order. It has showcased the right intent and its value was enhanced when his creative, if at times unorthodox, approach to challenging the bowlers paid fair dividends.

To be fair, well as India have played to get to 259 for four, it cannot be said that Dhoni's team is on top of the home side. Well begun is only half-done. And it is up to the fifth wicket pair to continue the good work if India are to assume greater control of the Test match and make it tough for England over the next four days.