The former Indian captain lit up a pleasant Thursday with an exceptional exhibition of stroke-making on a two-paced surface. The class of the man stood out as he negated all challenges, not merely through impeccable technique but with strokes of rare brilliance as well.
This was by no means a one-man show — cricket seldom is — but there is no denying who Karnataka owe their first-day total of 271 for four to after Anil Kumble won an important toss in the morning.
The pitch is by no means diabolical — yet! — but it tested both the skills and the character of the batsmen. Despite being on the slowish side, the uneven bounce planted seeds of doubt in the minds of the batsmen very early in the piece. From all accounts, it will play increasingly up and down as the match progresses. For that very reason, Karnataka had to necessarily make Kumble’s luck with the coin count.
For the second time this season, Barrington Rowland picked up a first-innings failure, wafting distantly at Vikramjeet Malik and putting Maninder Bisla behind the stumps in business. Himachal had drawn first blood just past the half-hour mark, but there was to be no joy for them over the next three hours.
The angle Ashok Thakur’s left-arm over presented brooked as much careful watching as the gentle outswing Malik procured. Both Dravid and KB Pawan, the young right-hander who is in the traditional opener’s mould, negotiated the potentially tricky period with more skill than luck, though Malik did occasionally get past the outside edge of Pawan’s bat.
Pawan, it would appear, enjoys batting with Dravid. The two men had added 158 in the second innings in Mumbai some ten days back with the latter the more dominant partner, and the tale was no different here. Pawan was workmanlike even as Dravid switched gears with the introduction of spin in the shape of Sarandeep Singh, whose off-spin was quickly complemented by Vishal Bhatia’s left-arm round.
Having played the quicker bowlers late and off the back foot, Dravid was at his twinkle-toeing best against the spinners. The first hint of flight saw him shimmy down the track, either to drive all along the carpet, or take the aerial route with consummate ease. Each one of his four sixes was struck cleanly, and with minimum of effort. The effect, however, was devastating as the ball cleared the ropes comfortably. A message there for messers Vengsarkar & Co?!
Having brought up his second successive half-century, Pawan was undone by the vagaries of the pitch. Bhatia somehow managed extra turn and bounce, and as the batsman shaped to pull out of the stroke, the ball found its way on to the stumps off the bat to terminate the second-wicket stand of 131 (175m, 274b).
Karnataka needed another partnership to further twist the knife. C Raghu was all too willing an ally as Dravid pressed on. Dropped at short-leg by Mukesh Sharma when five, Raghu went on the attack, matching his more illustrious partner stroke for stroke during an entertaining third-wicket alliance worth 92 (77m, 127b). It was the brightest phase of the day, Dravid’s orthodoxy and Raghu’s inventiveness driving Sandeep Sharma’s bunch to desperation.
Dravid’s unfortunate dismissal, nine minutes after tea, put the brakes on the scoring. Pushing forward to a gentle in-cutter from Malik, the 34-year-old simply had no chance as the ball barely left the ground, going under his bat and knocking off-stump out. By then, 121 of the very best had been sculpted, to go with the 214 in Mumbai. Kumble the Indian captain can rest easy; all’s well with Dravid’s batting world!
Raghu fell a little later, livid at being wrongly adjudged caught at silly point, although his obvious displeasure wasn’t in the best taste. Karnataka limped on without further loss as the post-tea session yielded just 35 in 21 overs. The foundation, though, is formidable.

SCORE BOARD

KARNATAKA (I Innings): Barrington Rowland c Bisla b Malik 7 (31m, 25b, 1x4), KB Pawan b Bhatia 56 (207m, 167b, 7x4, 1x6), Rahul Dravid b Malik 121 (251m, 180b, 12x4, 4x6), C Raghu c Mukesh b Bhatia 58 (115m, 101b, 8x4), Yere Goud (batting) 8 (73m, 53b), Thilak Naidu (batting) 7 (35m, 25b, 1x4). Extras (B-6, LB-2, NB-6) 14. Total (for 4 wkts, 91 overs) 271.
Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Rowland), 2-150 (Pawan), 3-242 (Dravid), 4-257 (Raghu).
Bowling: Ashok Thakur 21-4-40-0 (nb-2), Vikramjeet Malik 20-5-53-2 (nb-3), Sangram Singh 4-1-12-0, Sarandeep Singh 17-3-69-0, Vishal Bhatia 27-10-73-2 (nb-1), Mukesh Sharma 1-0-10-0, Sandeep Sharma 1-0-6-0.