Sanjay Manjrekar: "I think Gautam Gambhir is starting to believe that if India need batsmen to play out time then he is the guy to do it" © AFP Enlarge

Akhila Ranganna: Hello and welcome to Cricinfo Talk. I have with me Sanjay Manjrekar to look back on the first Test between India and Sri Lanka that ended in Ahmedabad today in a draw.

Sanjay, you had said yesterday that a draw was the most likely result and we saw that happen today. At any stage did you feel that the match could have had a different result?

Sanjay Manjrekar: Apart from a draw I think any other result was extremely unlikely and that was purely because of the kind of surface that we have had at the Motera. Day four gave us a hint as to how the pitch would play on day five and there was nothing there to suggest that batting would have become any difficult. Looking at the ability that the Indian batsmen have and the kind of experience and class and also the fact that the Sri Lankan spinners looked very ordinary right through this Test anything apart from a draw was a very unlikely result.

AR: Talking about India's batting ability we saw a wonderful knock from Gautam Gambhir. He curtailed his usual flamboyant self and we saw him play the waiting game, an innings that was quite like what he played in Napier, a few months ago in New Zealand. What are your thoughts on his knock?

SM: It was very good innings from Gambhir. I think he is starting to believe that if India need batsmen to play out time then he is the guy to do it. When he walks into a situation like this he now has the confidence and the self-belief that he can do it. Even time I watch Gambhir play an innings like this; I feel he is naturally suited to playing this kind of a role:that of a collector of runs, a guy who is happy playing long innings', defending the good balls and hitting the loose balls for a boundary. Obviously the new generation of Indian batsmen cannot have that approach because 90% of the cricket that is played is limited-overs cricket where you need to be more attacking and adventurous and that is how Gambhir has become as a batsman. But every time I see him bat the way he did today and at Napier as well I feel that he is naturally blessed to play these kind of innings. When he bats in the manner that he does at the Twenty20 or 50-over level, I feel he is batting differently from what hi natural game is.

AR:You mentioned how disappointing the Sri Lankan spinners have been throughout this series - anything that you saw today that would perhaps suggest a reversal of fortunes? Or do we see Ajantha Mendis coming in for the next Test?

SM: If the pitches continue to be the way we saw at Motera I think both teams will struggle to get 20 wickets. Both teams have limitations in their bowling ability. You can clearly see that Muttiah Muralitharan has lost that venom he would normally get from a good wicket. If he is given a turner or a pitch that is a bit rougher then he might play a prt in this series. I am sure Sri Lanka missed Mendis but having looked at the way the pitch played right through the match I wonder whether he would have been able to make a difference. But I think they will look at getting Mendis back in because he is a different kind of a spinner. You saw the traditional spinners - Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Rangana Herath and Murali - really struggle on this placid pitch and that is when you need a freakish bowler to come in. that is where Mendis would get a vote to be included in the playing XI in the next two games.

AR: Both these teams had their moments over the Test, is there anything you feel they could have done differently in order to ensure a different result?

SM: There is always room for improvement, I think both captains will sit in their dressing room and think what they could have done better. But the hard fact remains that the surface at Motera was dead. It gave no encouragement at all to the seamers and the spinners. The seamers probably had 40 minutes of help on day one which is not adequate.

How do you get a result when you have a pitch like this? That is when you need some extraordinary talent in your bowling department and I think that has been exposed with both India and Sri Lanka. We didn't see a single bowler in this Test with the ability to run thorough the side on this kind of a pitch. If the pitches continue to be like this it is just going to be the bat dominating the ball which is a little unfortunate and that is not how we want Test cricket to be seen. We want the young generation to get attracted to Test cricket and when you have a five-day game ending with no result then it is not a good advertisement for the game. Any drawn Test of this kind, when there isn't a balance between bat and ball is not good for cricket.

AR: The tactics of both the captains have been questioned during this Test. Some people said that Kumar Sangakkara should have declared earlier while MS Dhoni's fielding and bowling tactics were questioned when both the Jayawardenes - Mahela and Prasanna - were on song. What did you make of the way both the captains approached this Test?

SM: I would like to emphasis the fact that the conditions were very difficult for both teams to really change the tide. There was also a certain amount of resignation with both Dhoni and Sangakkara - they were resigned to the fact that this is a pitch where wickets are not going to come by and at times just went through the motions. Even today, there were times when I thought Chanaka Welegedara should have been bowled when Sachin Tendulkar came into bat, having got him in the first innings. Yes, the captaincy wasn't imaginative and that is perhaps because of the excessive amount of international cricket that is being played. When they get a pitch like this, they perhaps just want to go through the motions, finish off the game and look forward to the next one. I don't think there is that much of commitment and real intensity to make a difference in this kind of a Test. So you can say that perhaps Dhoni and Sangakkara looked a little bit flat-footed as far as imaginative captaincy was concerned. That could also because of the fact that they knew that this pitch was going to test them and any other result wasn't going to be possible. They were just hoping that something different would happen. So yes, the captaincy could have been a bit more imaginative at few moments during the Test.

AR: Another good innings from Tendulkar - your thoughts?

SM: In Rahul Dravid and Tendulkar [in this Test] we saw two ageing players completely at ease at the Test level. And like Dravid's century, today's knock from Tendulkar was a commanding innings. He didn't look in trouble at all. That bat in defence looked very straight. His hunger and his commitment continue to grow with every year. With the kind of attack that Sri Lankan had and given the way the pitch was playing, this hundred would have been a walk in the park for Tendulkar. What we have seen in this Test, is that Dravid and Tendulkar, two of our batting stalwarts are looking extremely comfortable and very much at ease against an international attack which is a really good sign for Indian Test cricket.

AR: And finally, up next is Kanpur. Given what we have seen from both the teams in this Test, which team do you think is possibly carrying the advantage heading into the second Test?

SM: Sri Lanka's seam attack, without Lasith Malinga looks a little inexperienced. You can have all the talent in the world, but experience counts in Test cricket. The inexperience of Sri Lanka's seam attack, in the end, could perhaps be the difference between the two sides. Both teams have very strong batting line-ups, both teams have a decent spin attack. India perhaps have a slightly stronger seam attack than Sri Lanka's and that I hope can make the difference. I am hoping that Zaheer Khan has a wonderful spell sometime in this series; Sreesanth, if he gets a chance can pick up a few wickets a critical time and make the difference. The pitch at Kanpur is another batting-friendly pitch. I hope there is something there for the bowlers or once again we will look be looking at two centuries in every innings.

AR: Thanks Sanjay for your views.