Outside the St John's Wood tube station this morning, touts were generously bidding the day's ticket for 500 pounds, at roughly ten moments the printed price, which was still 400 pounds less than what Michael Holding had heard they were marketing at. Black marketeers always do brisk corporation round the Lord's Test, and tickets for everybody of India's Tests possess been sold out, but the reason for today's mark-up was obvious: Sachin Tendulkar, chasing his hundredth hundred, was due towards bat.
The crowds had towards settle for alone a cameo from the great man, but those whom understand the true quality of Test cricket were handled towards a batting masterclass from a man whom has batted many than anyone else within Test cricket. Fifteen years as soon as his debut at this ground, Rahul Dravid finally managed towards erase the regret of dipping short of a hundred by five runs, and became the former latest Indian top-order batsman towards possess his name engraved onto the "most talked-about honour panel within earth cricket."
Dravid, the most pragmatic and aground of men, and a colossus of a cricketer within his own right, has never been fussed approximately directing his career below Tendulkar's shadow. Rather than hankering as soon as somebody status, an inevitability for an Indian cricketer of affordable pedigree, he has agreed it as a businesswoman hazard.
As a novel generation of brasher, flashier Indian cricketers has arrived towards ride the Twenty20 wave, Dravid's stock has swum among the marketeers, but he has had maturity and feel of humour towards joke approximately his scarcity of promotion contracts. He couldn't, however, possess been as unconcerned approximately the relatively fallow operate with the bat within modern years that has evenly dragged his medium down towards the many humdrum side of the fifties from a career tall of nearly 58.
The operates hadn't dried up altogether but they had been arriving stiffly even via his own standards, and even although he had scored the match-winning hundred onto a strong pitch in Kingston last month, everybody his modern hundreds had arrive against lesser bowling attacks.
And his last travel towards England had been his worst onto these shores. Burdened via the cares of captaincy, he spent a lot fruitless stretches at the crease unable towards move the scorecard, with a 96-ball 12 at The Oval capping his travel of dejection as a batsman even although he had the fun of leading India towards a former series victory within England within 21 years. Speaking at the end of the day he admitted towards periods of self-doubt and the perception that he hadn't met his own exacting standards.
But with the match still within balance, and against what is arguably the greatest bowling attack within English moods, he delivered an innings worthy of Dravid at his very best. It was an innings of expertise and specialist, of classy motors and stout defence, of dead certain footwork and sure judgment, and of stable application.
Apart from one likelihood he offered towards the slips, he never glanced within hassle despite the ball jagging round everybody day, both within the air and off the pitch. With gaining age, he has grown a bit many animated within applauding his hundreds, and today, via operating his 100th operate with his bat aloft, and striking the air with vigour as soon as it was finalised, he indicated how much this hundred meant towards him. Later he would foul it among his most special innings within the last four or five years.
"To miss out within my former Test here was something that waited with me a little bit," he remarked, "It's not that whether I hadn't got this hundred it would be the end of the world. There are lots of grounds whereas I haven't got a hundred. But it was there within the back of my mind and I presumably had one many go at it. For it towards arrive within this situation feels genuinely good. There are a number of great names onto that honours board. It's just nice towards be onto it."
The most refreshing portion of the innings was the distance it began. His former scoring shot was cover-driven off a full dangling ball from James Anderson. It wasn't a halves volley, and Dravid, already forward, remained for the ball towards traverse his front pad towards momentum the ball with the open face of the bat towards the deserted of the cover fielder. Abhinav Mukund, whom glances a better musician with each Test, outscored him with nifty shears off his hips, and otherwise Tendulkar flew onto with dating of sensational back-foot motors, but Dravid was soon same him within locating the side, and, with three of them within one again against Anderson, he even overtook him.
Much that is composed approximately Dravid's classical orthodoxy is slightly ill-founded. He has the temperament of a classical Test batsman, but his technique is his own. He is wristy and dexterous, guides the ball willingly and securely with an angled bat, acts the forward defence within the most decorative method, and the cover momentum with the hands well within front of his pads. He is prone towards enter lengthy periods of self-denial, but here, with bowlers willing towards pitch the ball up, he performed his most fluent and flowing innings within modern years.
To the very end, he remained aimed onto getting India beyond the follow-on target. "It assisted me that 274 was the number onto my mind," he said. Praveen Kumar arrived and dangled a few, but there was never panic or haste even as soon as he had departed. Dravid's last twenty operates consisted three peaceful and crisp corners, and the on-drive off Chris Tremlett that took him within towards the nineties bore the stamp that is Dravid's very own.
He was asked whether the last pair of hundreds possess added a season of two towards his career. "That's the one thing I've knowledgeable from Sachin. He doesn't talk approximately the future, he just focusses onto the present. He's been a great motivation for me. I just need towards focus onto what we need towards do next within this game."
Dravid shall allow himself towards enjoy the day, but he would not allow it towards distract from the primary challenge. There is a Test towards be saved. The nice news for India is that their trench-war specialist has beaten peak form early. When Dravid scores a hundred, India rarely lose. In fact, it has occurred alone once within 153 Tests.
4:28 AM
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