<p>The Bangalorean has always been a great tradionalist, and it silently rankled him all this while that he didn’t have a hundred at the headquarters of world cricket. <br /><br />On an emotion-soaked Saturday evening, Dravid set the record straight with a knock right out of the top drawer, cementing a wonderful relationship with Lord’s, where he made his Test debut 15 summers back.<br /><br />Despite the former skipper’s unbeaten 103, however, India still find themselves way behind the eight-ball in the first Test. <br /><br />Replying to England’s 474 for eight declared, the visitors were bowled out on day three <br />for a modest 286 to concede a lead of 188.<br /><br />England extended that advantage to 193 by close and would appear well placed to press for victory. <br /><br />Cause for optimism<br /><br />That said, there is cause for optimism within the Indian ranks, and that is because of the previous 32 occasions when Dravid has made a century, India have lost just one Test match. It will have also delighted Dravid no end that he couldn’t have chosen a better stage to go past Ricky Ponting and become the second highest run-scorer in Test history, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, as India made it 1-2 in the run-scoring charts.<br /><br />Dravid also moved to within one century of Sunil Gavaskar’s mark of 34 Test centuries, the second most by an Indian after world-leader Tendulkar’s whopping 51 hundreds in the longer version. Just last month, Dravid had completed number 32, in a winning cause against the West Indies in the first Test at Sabina Park in Kingston.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The expected 100th international century from Tendulkar’s bat didn’t eventuate, but Dravid more than made up for it. Dismissed at the same venue on his Test debut in 1996 for a heart-breaking 95, he has since been chasing a century at the Mecca of cricket ever since. The 15-year wait was worth it as strokes cascaded from his willow in a torrent, though he was forced to play a lone hand for the most part as his illustrious colleagues deserted him.<br /><br />Dravid will allow himself a pat on the back, but also brace up for what lies ahead over the next two days because while an individual milestone might have been crossed, there is still a Test match to be saved, a situation to be salvaged.</p>
<p>The Bangalorean has always been a great tradionalist, and it silently rankled him all this while that he didn’t have a hundred at the headquarters of world cricket. <br /><br />On an emotion-soaked Saturday evening, Dravid set the record straight with a knock right out of the top drawer, cementing a wonderful relationship with Lord’s, where he made his Test debut 15 summers back.<br /><br />Despite the former skipper’s unbeaten 103, however, India still find themselves way behind the eight-ball in the first Test. <br /><br />Replying to England’s 474 for eight declared, the visitors were bowled out on day three <br />for a modest 286 to concede a lead of 188.<br /><br />England extended that advantage to 193 by close and would appear well placed to press for victory. <br /><br />Cause for optimism<br /><br />That said, there is cause for optimism within the Indian ranks, and that is because of the previous 32 occasions when Dravid has made a century, India have lost just one Test match. It will have also delighted Dravid no end that he couldn’t have chosen a better stage to go past Ricky Ponting and become the second highest run-scorer in Test history, behind only Sachin Tendulkar, as India made it 1-2 in the run-scoring charts.<br /><br />Dravid also moved to within one century of Sunil Gavaskar’s mark of 34 Test centuries, the second most by an Indian after world-leader Tendulkar’s whopping 51 hundreds in the longer version. Just last month, Dravid had completed number 32, in a winning cause against the West Indies in the first Test at Sabina Park in Kingston.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The expected 100th international century from Tendulkar’s bat didn’t eventuate, but Dravid more than made up for it. Dismissed at the same venue on his Test debut in 1996 for a heart-breaking 95, he has since been chasing a century at the Mecca of cricket ever since. The 15-year wait was worth it as strokes cascaded from his willow in a torrent, though he was forced to play a lone hand for the most part as his illustrious colleagues deserted him.<br /><br />Dravid will allow himself a pat on the back, but also brace up for what lies ahead over the next two days because while an individual milestone might have been crossed, there is still a Test match to be saved, a situation to be salvaged.</p>
