Harbhajan is left to shoulder burden as pace bowlers fail to deliver

India 516 and 327-6 dec v Essex 279 and 186-3 Match drawn

Struggling to take 10 wickets in a Test match inside five sessions, let alone 20 to force a victory, India missed an opportunity yesterday to benefit from an exhaustive work- out on a flat pitch. The stage was set for two sessions of toil and aggression after Sourav Ganguly decided to bat until lunch before setting a purely hypothetical 565 in 62 overs.

What was needed was an opening burst of pace and fire followed by some wickedly spinning deliveries from Harbhajan Singh. At least he tried, but the opening salvoes by Sanjay Bangar and Tinu Yohannan were insipid, if not insulting. Of the bowlers tried in the Tests so far, only Harbhajan, his spin partner Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan have looked threatening, so there are places available, although to whom on this showing is difficult to fathom.

Admittedly Bangar is more of a batsman than a bowler but Yohannan, 6ft 3in and strongly built, lacked pace or intent. He drifted the odd one away from the left-hander Richard Clinton, but failed to bang the ball hard into the pitch. He needs to use his height and "hit the deck hard" short of a length, forcing the batsman on to the back foot. Instead, Clinton and James Middlebrook casually worked him on to the leg side or drove him to the ringed off-side field. If they can negate him with the new ball so easily, what price Michael Vaughan, Mark But-cher and Nasser Hussain?

He was replaced in the 11th over by the always enthusiast-ic Harbhajan. Fielders hovered around the bat in catching positions rather than in the covers in defensive ones, and Middlebrook popped up a simple catch to short leg.

For the eight overs Harbhajan bowled, India had purpose from one end. Yohannan did try from the other, an offering as anaemic as his previous one, and Clinton spoiled a pleasant half-century by slicing a wide long-hop from Virender Sehwag to point. But the day's play was neatly summed up when Andy Flower retired hurt at tea: a dislocated eyelash perhaps?

The problem India have is that their two best bowlers are spinners and they seem loath to pick both away from their home pitches. They suffered for it at Lord's and although they might have selected both at Trent Bridge, Kumble was sidelined with an injured calf muscle. Unfortunately their seam-bowling resources are so thin that they must pick their best bowlers, whoever and whatever the conditions.

That means they must ignore the hype and history of Headingley favouring seam and swing bowling, and pick both twirlymen. This is harsh on Zaheer Khan, leaving him as the only seamer of presence, but in truth he has been for the last two Tests. Might as well do it and let spinners ease the burden of the overs.

Until they find a seamer to complement him, Zaheer is unlikely to improve much on his Test figures of 49 wickets at 39 runs apiece. Pace at the other end would create pressure and problems for batsmen and give India a four- pronged attack. Australia have proved that express pace and high-quality spin bowling win matches. India have the spin and England are developing the pace, but the series is being dominated by English batsmen showing the Indian back-up seamers to be inadequate.