Sehwag's stylish century puts England under pressure

India 210-4 v England

Overshadowing your hero, the man you used to stand in front of the television imitating, must be a bizarre experience. However, it is one India's Virender Sehwag must be growing quite accustomed to following his magnificent innings of 106 here yesterday.

Sachin Tendulkar is the player that the 23-year-old Sehwag modelled himself on as a teenager, and it is the student who India have to thank for the competitive position they found themselves in when bad light curtailed the first day's play in this second Test with 24 overs still to be bowled.

On an overcast day where conditions and the pitch offered the quicker bowlers assistance throughout, the hard-hitting right-hander from Delhi showed that, while Tendulkar may be perceived as the finished article, Sehwag, playing in only his seventh Test match, is a diamond only a cut or two away from completion.

The way he constructed his second Test century, after his captain Sourav Ganguly bravely chose to bat on winning the toss, was a joy. Sehwag curbed his natural desire to dominate until he passed 50 in uncharacteristic fashion – off 106 balls. But after passing the landmark, feeling that he had the measure of England's bowlers, he began striking the ball with a crispness few can match.

His strokeplay through the off side was exquisite and prevented England from gaining the control they had enjoyed through their tactics a fortnight ago at Lord's. But it was a whip through square leg off his hip that was the shot of the day. The movement of his hands as he executed it were as though he was giving the bat handle a Chinese burn. The only scorch marks, however, were on the lush outfield as the ball raced away for four.

The boundary that took him to three figures could be considered a chance as a diving Michael Vaughan got a fingertip to a rasping square drive off the debutant Stephen Harmison. To have been dismissed by such a poor ball, though, would have been unjust, especially after Sehwag had earlier watched Tendulkar drag a Dominic Cork long hop onto his stumps, when he was looking well set and hungry for a big score. Sehwag's second fifty was more typical, coming off just 58 balls.

The late dismissal of Sehwag for 106, when he played all round a full, straight ball from Craig White and lost his middle stump, means that this game remains evenly poised. After Ganguly and Vangipurappu Laxman, who both appear determined to make significant contributions, India have only Pathiv Patel, a 17-year-old wicketkeeper making his debut, and the bowlers to come. If they are to post the sort of score their captain would like, India will need their tail to wag as vigorously as it did during their second innings at Lord's.

Other than Matthew Hoggard, who was outstanding and deserved better than just two wickets, England's captain will have been disappointed with his bowlers, who failed to put enough deliveries in the right area. In selecting five quicks and leaving out Ashley Giles, England laid their cards on the table before the toss, and watching the way Hoggard darted the ball about throughout the day confirmed that Nasser Hussain would have been right to bowl first had he won it.

The were several reasons for playing five seamers, ranging from the state of the pitch to the concern over the fitness of Andrew Flintoff, but one cannot help feeling there will be stages in this game where Hussain would love to have Giles's qualities to call on.

Swinging the ball from his first over, Hoggard was a handful. He troubled all of India's batsmen with his late movement but even he was guilty of bowling a fraction short and wide at times. More than anything, though, he needed support from the other end. This he failed to get. His success was a result of getting more balls in the business area than anybody else. Hoggard would have taken particular pleasure in the peach of a ball that ended Rahul Dravid's vigil. The other happy contributor in this dismissal was Robert Key, also making his debut, who took an excellent catch diving to his right at first slip.

Until Dravid edged that away-swinger, he looked in good touch and was using his experience of English conditions to thwart Hoggard during his 90-minute opening spell. Lunging forward, he negated any movement until he received a ball he could do little about.

Hussain must have noticed that three of the four wickets taken were through his bowlers pitching the ball up and making the most of the favourable conditions, but England failed to make India's batsmen play enough. Far too many balls were either short or wide of off stump, allowing the batsmen to comfortably watch the ball whistle through to Alec Stewart. While this tactic worked in the first Test, yesterday required more traditional methods.

Such waywardness is excusable from someone on his first outing such as Harmison – who, despite his first four overs being maidens, bowled with greater control as the day progressed – but it is less excusable from experienced bowlers. And while England know that a good first session today could swing the game in their favour, they should have taken more than four wickets yesterday.

Trent Bridge Scoreboard

India won toss

INDIA ­ First Innings

Wasim Jaffer b Hoggard 0

10 min, 8 balls

V Sehwag b White 106

258 min, 183 balls, 18 fours

R S Dravid c Key b Hoggard 13

64 min, 43 balls, 2 fours

S R Tendulkar b Cork 34

90 min, 68 balls, 6 fours

*S C Ganguly not out 29

121 min, 68 balls, 4 fours

V V S Laxman not out 22

29 min, 27 balls, 4 fours

Extras (b1, lb3, w1, nb1) 6

Total (for 4, 288 min, 66 overs) 210

Fall: 1-6 (Jaffer), 2-34 (Dravid), 3-108 (Tendulkar), 4-179 (Sehwag).

To bat: A B Agarkar, ÝP A Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, A Nehra.

Bowling: Hoggard 21-6-54-2 (w1) (10-4-17-2, 5-2-14-0, 1-0-2-0, 5-0-21-0); Cork 11-3-45-1 (4-1-20-0, 4-1-12-0, 1-0-4-1, 2-1-9-0); Harmison 14-7-33-0 (4-4-0-0, 10-3-33-0); Flintoff 14-3-37-0 (9-2-21-0, 5-1-16-0); White 6-0-37-1 (nb1) (2-0-19-0, 4-0-18-1).

Progress: First day: 50: 106 min, 24.1 overs. Lunch: 61 for 2 (Sehwag 37, Tendulkar 10) 28 overs. 100: 161 min, 37.4 overs. Bad light stopped play: 3.22-3.54pm, early tea taken 141 for 3 (Sehwag 85, Ganguly 5) 51 overs. 150: 227 min, 52 overs. 200: 281 min, 64.1 overs. BLSP: 4.59pm.

Sehwag: 50: 149 min, 106 balls, 9 fours. 100: 232 min, 164 balls, 17 fours.

ENGLAND: M P Vaughan, R W T Key, M A Butcher, *N Hussain, J P Crawley, ÝA J Stewart, A Flintoff, C White, D G Cork, S J Harmison, M J Hoggard.

Umpires: R E Koertzen (SA) and R B Tiffin (Zim).

TV replay umpire: J W Lloyds.

Match referee: C H Lloyd.