Field day for Indians before Gambhir's impatience

Colombo: Gautam Gambhir looked as gloomy as the overcast conditions. You cannot blame him either.

Looking to establish himself as Virender Sehwag's Test partner, he played an apt nondescript shot in keeping with the name of the venue that ended a brief visit to the crease as bad light brought a premature end to day one of India's tour of Sri Lanka.

Anil Kumble's Indians were 4-1 in reply to a generally lethargic Sri Lankan Board XI's first innings total of 224.

Maybe Gambhir could blame his iffy stroke on his captain losing the toss and spending a large portion of the day in the field at the Nondescripts Cricket Club.

But he couldn't blame the one of the several bands practising in the car park next door. They had packed away their instruments by the time the Indians began their innings in the sort of weather that threatened rain most of the day.

After all, when you face four balls in a bid to build confidence six days before the start of the first Test of the three-match series and get out the way he did, studying all the video material of that shot isn't going to do much. It's a matter of going back to the nets and getting in some worthwhile practice.

It had been the weather with odd showers that forced three breaks in play that also kept the band away from the car park and not get their instruments wet.

At least left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan exuded confidence his 12 overs where his return of 2-35 was a fair reward for getting the ball in the right place at the tree-lined venue. They were just the sort of helpful conditions that allowed for his left-arm swing.

"Bowling them (Board XI) out for under 240 was a good exercise," the experienced bowler admitted. "We are pretty happy with it. I know I am with my performance.

"We also have to be patient and bowl in the right areas. The cloud cover helped, but weather is something we can't control."

They were sensible comments from a man coming back from injury and one who coach Gary Kirsten said was keen to play in this match to prove his fitness.

There were, though, some touches of irony when Kumble, bowling from the SSC end appealed more than once to former Sri Lankan Test all-rounder Kumar Dharmasena for an lbw decision. One spinner appealing to another former player fast-tracked into the first-class system and the same age (well, give or take 200 days), was perhaps a touch incongruous for some.

At least Kumble was rewarded twice for what were pretty easy decisions that even a novice would not have had a problem in giving. While it was good to see Kumble getting his rhythm in motion and working on his length, there were times his appeals for lbw would have made Kumble wonder, too, if there was not a place for him in this line of business when his playing career is over.

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