Gambhir And Dravid Lead Indian Recovery
©REUTERS/Adnan Abidi (INDIA) Picture Supplied by Action Images
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Gambhir And Dravid Lead Indian Recovery
Gambhir And Dravid Lead Indian Recovery
©REUTERS/Adnan Abidi (INDIA) Picture Supplied by Action Images
India 179-1 (Gambhir 106no, Dravid 65no) v England
2nd Test, Mohali, day one: stumps
By Graham Wilson
India lost the wicket of Virender Sehwag early but Gautam Gambhir's fourth Test century and a welcome return to form for Rahul Dravid helped India reach 179 for one when bad light ended play for the day in the final session.
India won the toss and batted first after the the start of play was delayed due to poor visibility as England replaced Steve Harmison with Stuart Broad with India retaining the same team that took a 1-0 lead in Chennai.
And Broad had an immediate impact when Sehwag attempted a booming drive in his first over and was caught behind by Matthew Prior without scoring to leave India six for one.
Broad bowled superbly, severely testing Rahul Dravid but he survived to be unbeaten on 50 at tea after alongside Gautam Gambhir, who hit two fours from Monty Panesar's first over of the day and a boundary in the opening over of the day from James Anderson.
Dravid overcame his sticky start to reach his 54th Test half-century, justifying the faith shown in him by his team and management.
England did little wrong after the early wicket but the danger signs were there with Dravid piercing the field with some trademark drives while Gambhir didn't let the spinners settle with excellent foot movement after he had seen off the new ball.
Gambhir raced to three figures after tea, dancing down the track and lofting Graeme Swann, England's best bowler, over his head for a huge six almost immediately after the resumption.
Dravid was far more circumspect as he ground out the runs but some of his shot-making was sublime and the precision with which he threaded shots through the field showed that he is well and truly not finished with Test cricket just yet.
The first match saw India win by six wickets, making 387 runs in the fourth innings to win with Sachin Tendulkar hitting his 41st Test century.
England: Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen (captain), Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Monty Panesar
India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma
© Cricket World 2008
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