Captain Sourav Ganguly defended Yuvraj Singh's selection ahead of Mohammad Kaif by stating that the former has a better record than the Uttar Pradesh batsman.

"Both Yuvraj and Kaif are playing well but Yuvraj has a better Test record than Kaif at the moment," said Ganguly with a straight face at the end of the first day's play of the first cricket Test in Bulawayo on Tuesday.

Ganguly defended most of India's actions on the day, whether it be picking four bowlers or the profusion of no-balls or the rather off-day which Harbhajan Singh had in the field.

"We always play with four bowlers and to be honest, I now feel we made the right selections. I was pretty apprehensive to pick two spinners but on the first day of a Test, it had a lot more turn than the Indian wickets.

"I thought this strip would assist the seamers but it just didn't have anything for the fast bowlers. It will get slower and slower and turn more and more."

Ganguly also expected better things from Harbhajan but said he would have a lot to make up for in the remaining days of the Test.

"Harbhajan could have bowled better but then a catch at forward short leg was missed, one in the slips and also a stumping.

"It was an off day from him by his standards. But he will probably get better as he would have a lot of bowling to do in this Test match."

Zimbabwean skipper Tatenda Taibu said his batsmen decided to stand outside the crease in order to cut out the inswingers from Indian fast bowlers which has got a lot of his batsmen leg before wicket in the preceding tri-series.

"It has been our game plan to bat outside the crease against fast bowlers."

Debutant opener Terrence Duffin was pleased with his maiden half century and said he was surprised to see himself negotiate the famous Indian spinners so well.

"I was extremely nervous to start with. I liked the way I shaped up against spinners. I have never been good against them but after my knee operations recently I have worked hard on this aspect of my game."