<p>Openers Shane Watson and Simon Katich were cruising along when off-spinner Harbhajan Singh provided the first breakthrough in the first over after lunch, and then went on to build on the opening. “We are very happy with the day’s score,” said Virender Sehwag, who handed over the Test cap to debutant Cheteshwar Pujara. <br /><br />“The way they started, we thought they would end up with 300 or 350 on day one. But 285 for five is a good total for us, especially after Suresh Raina got Ricky Ponting’s wicket. Ponting looked set and if he had stayed till the end, he would have scored quickly, but after his dismissal, they got on the defensive. North is batting well and looked confident at the crease. But tomorrow morning, we will put more pressure on him and get him out as early as possible,” remarked the right-hander.<br /><br />The opener, who was happy to be playing in front of a noisy Bangalore crowd, hoped the pitch will settle down nicely when India come on to bat. “It’s damp and slow, the ball is not coming on to the bat. Hopefully, the wicket will get better as the match progresses. Maybe on the third and fourth day, the wicket will get drier and then the ball will come into play,” he noted.<br /><br />Asked about VVS Laxman’s injury status, Sehwag said: “We checked with Laxman in the morning and he said his back was stiff and sore. So we didn’t want to take a chance because if something goes wrong, then we can’t have a fielder also for him. So it was a good decision not to play him.”</p>
<p>Openers Shane Watson and Simon Katich were cruising along when off-spinner Harbhajan Singh provided the first breakthrough in the first over after lunch, and then went on to build on the opening. “We are very happy with the day’s score,” said Virender Sehwag, who handed over the Test cap to debutant Cheteshwar Pujara. <br /><br />“The way they started, we thought they would end up with 300 or 350 on day one. But 285 for five is a good total for us, especially after Suresh Raina got Ricky Ponting’s wicket. Ponting looked set and if he had stayed till the end, he would have scored quickly, but after his dismissal, they got on the defensive. North is batting well and looked confident at the crease. But tomorrow morning, we will put more pressure on him and get him out as early as possible,” remarked the right-hander.<br /><br />The opener, who was happy to be playing in front of a noisy Bangalore crowd, hoped the pitch will settle down nicely when India come on to bat. “It’s damp and slow, the ball is not coming on to the bat. Hopefully, the wicket will get better as the match progresses. Maybe on the third and fourth day, the wicket will get drier and then the ball will come into play,” he noted.<br /><br />Asked about VVS Laxman’s injury status, Sehwag said: “We checked with Laxman in the morning and he said his back was stiff and sore. So we didn’t want to take a chance because if something goes wrong, then we can’t have a fielder also for him. So it was a good decision not to play him.”</p>
