Well I'll put it this way - I think India had the best of the day today. Whether the advantage of the toss is enough to offset or overtake that and still put England ahead is up for debate of course and we won't really know that until later, but I think India had the better of today.
Yeah, it does appear that india had a better day, especially considering that England managed just 200 in almost 100 overs, which is even slow by old standards.
However, if they bat for another half a day, they'll be giving themselves a great shot at earning at least a draw which will be solely because of the cautious approach they employed today.
If they had, instead, tried to score a faster rate, then their innings may have been over by the end of the day with a score of like 270 or it may have been close to it. This would've ruled out a draw completely.
With the way things stand, they have at least kept all three results wide open, two of which will be enough for England to win the series. Moreover, india will now have to play their last innings further ahead in time and in presumably worse conditions than if England had played differently and got bowled out for 270 today alone.
Tendulkar hasn't looked comfortable on any wicket for a long time. It isn't particularly nice to watch but I'd be surprised if he came in on this and looked comfortable.
Scoring runs is one thing and looking comfortable is another.
I believe he was in good nick till Jan 2012 (australian tour), although he didn't get 100s to show for it. (something like what Ponting went through in 2009-10)
An innings that really stands out is the 70 odd scored at the MCG as it was almost flawless and breath-taking.
Returning to tests after a break of several months at his age really finished whatever was left in him.
