What on earth will Sachin do to England?

England�s only hope is to strike early and often.

Another problem for the tourists is uneven bounce. This has not reached alarming proportions yet, but there are early signs of the ball keeping low.

This will get worse as the match develops which means that surviving a final day under pressure will be difficult. Throw in Harbhajan Singh's brilliant off spin for good measure, and England's predicament is clear.

Their bowlers deserve some credit, though. They all plugged away with only Flintoff looking threatening. His bowling has developed markedly over the past 12 months, or so, and he ran in hard all day.

Unfortunately, there was little support and although Hoggard and Ormond were tidy, they rarely beat the bat.

Besides, Dasgupta was in no mood to give anything away and although his maiden Test century was a study of determined defence, it was an outstanding achievement, nonetheless.

Just 10 yards away from me, his parents watched proudly. Tomorrow is their wedding anniversary: what a present he gave them!

Flintoff was probably England's best bowler

This was my first look at Richard Dawson, the young off spinner from Yorkshire who has played only nine first class matches. He was originally chosen to give him experience while Giles and Croft did the bulk of the work.

Suddenly he has found himself thrust into the front line, and he can look back at his opening day with some satisfaction. He has a high action and bowled tidily but he, too, faces a demanding day with India's stroke players looking to get after him.

The main blot on England's copybook was their close catching. This was a problem during the summer and two chances went begging today.

Worryingly, the most straightforward was dropped by Foster, the young wicketkeeper, who snatched at a legside chance offered by Dravid when he had made 33.

I felt the jury was 'out' after his tour of Zimbabwe, and that miss has done nothing to alter my view. Dravid has prospered, and could make England suffer heavily as a result.