If Sachin’s on song today, this man kept the rhythm

As acknowledged, in one of his moments of dry humour, by Rahul Dravid, who said today — after Chopra and Sehwag put on their second century stand of the series — that he was learning a new skill of ‘‘sitting in the dressing-room, waiting to bat.’’

The pair play, famously, as the comic and his straight man, the maverick and the methodical. Sehwag gets away with his flourishes and exuberance because Chopra, at the other end, defends with near-Dravidian dourness. ‘‘Chopra has all the qualities that make a good opening bat: sound in technique, temperament and patience. His approach is a great foil to Sehwag’s aggression’’, says Mohinder Amarnath, not short of patience himself as a player.

Not that Chopra has adapted his batting style to suit a partnership with Sehwag. Those who’ve seen him as a youngster, playing for Salwan Boys’ School, will have noticed the solidity, toughness, patience, temperament.

At inter-school matches, he would utilise all 40 overs of the innings and never throw away his wicket. ‘‘That was his special quality’’, recalled Tarak Sinha, his coach at Delhi’s Sonnet Club. ‘‘Even as a youngster, he never relished batting lower down the order because he would not get enough overs to bat. He always cherished opening the innings because he wanted to bat till the end.’’

Interestingly, Chopra’s understanding with Sehwag comes despite the fact that they haven’t really played that much together (they represented different schools and clubs). ‘‘I feel comfortable when teaming up with Viru. There is no pressure on me,’’ Chopra has often remarked.

While Sehwag is a natural hitter of the ball, new or old, Chopra’s is a waiting game, waiting for the loose deliveries. ‘‘He knows exactly which deliveries to leave and which ones to play. Only after he is sure of the attack and the condition of the wicket does he decide to play his strokes,’’ said Sinha.

‘‘What I like in Chopra is his solidity and temperament, two essential qualities required for a good opening batsman’’, said K Srikkanth, one half of arguably the last great Indian opening pair. ‘‘I like his approach; the more I see his batting style, the more impressed I am.’’

A batsman scoring freely at the other end (Sehwag in this case) always helps Chopra play his natural game, of grinding the opposition’s new ball attack. ‘‘That is one reason why he likes to bat along with Gautam Gambhir for Delhi in Ranji Trophy. While the left-hander goes after the bowling, Chopra accumulates his runs through singles and by his deft placing,’’ Sinha said.

On the eve of the Indian team’s departure for Australia, Chopra had said he had worked very hard to be successful on the tour. Today, he repeated that, pointing out that he’d spent a lot of time talking to Gavaskar, Boycott and Amarnath. ‘‘Their advice was simple: Since the Kookaburra ball does a lot when new, give the first hour to the bowlers. That’s what I’ve tried to do.’’

And how. And the effect has been felt through the batting order. ‘‘An opening batsman’s principal job is to see the new ball through and to make things comfortable for the later batsmen. Woh dil se majboot hai. He’s faced some of the fastest Australian bowlers with confidence. The middle order gets a boost as a result’’, said Sinha.

Srikkanth agrees: ‘‘In Australia, especially, you need good opening partnerships. In the current series, our batsmen have done well mainly because our openers have put up good stands.’’