If ever a book is written on sporting champions who spent their entire careers under the shadow of a more flamboyant icon,no one will make a better cover than Rahul Dravid. Those giving him company elsewhere in the book will definitely include Scottie Pippen and Andres Iniesta,whose achievements remained dwarfed thanks to Michael Jordan and Lionel Messi respectively. Having been the opening act to the headline event for a major part of his cricketing life,what transpired at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday would hardly have surprised Dravid. His cover drive off Darren Sammys widish half-volley to bring up 13,000 Test runs was elegant as ever. And the landmark,a humongous one. The cheers from the 20-odd thousand at the Wankhede,too,was boisterous and the appreciation genuine. The image of a humbled Dravid with his bat held up,acknowledging the ovation lasted only briefly on the video-screen at the stadium. It was soon replaced by that of Sachin Tendulkar sitting all padded up in the dressing-room and applauding his longstanding teammates feat. Dravid became only the second batsman in Test history to cross the 13K mark,in his 160th Test-three matches quicker than Tendulkar. But even in one of his finest hours,the Karnataka stalwart could not take full credit for the bursting excitement in the stands. It was Tendulkar the people wanted to see,especially since he sat on the cusp of a relatively more memorable milestone his 100th international century. Not surprisingly,the roar for Dravids special moment would pale miserably in comparison to the one welcoming Tendulkar to the crease a little later. In fact,the Tendulkar mania ensured that everything around him,including the third Test itself,was rendered irrelevant to a certain extent. That the match was headed towards a potential stalemate with India finishing Day Three on 281/3,still trailing by 309 runs,didnt seem to matter either. The only statistic on the scoreboard that was relevant (it seemed) was Tendulkars individual score. If ever,he could knock his stumps back into place and continue batting even after being bowled a la WG Grace it was Thursday. The Mumbai crowd had indeed come solely to see him bat. And by remaining unbeaten on 67 overnight,Tendulkar had also ensured that the Wankhede is Sold Out on the fourth day. Contentious dismissal Even Gautam Gambhirs contentious dismissal given caught behind while attempting a pull-shot didnt warrant a second look. It brought Tendulkar to the crease. And for a brief while at the start of his innings,he did allow everyone around to foster hopes of him scoring the elusive ton on Thursday itself. Tendulkar started off with a flurry of activity,cover-driving Ravi Rampaul for a boundary,before late-cutting Devendra Bishoo to the third-man fence. And when he stylishly upper-cut Fidel Edwards for a long six behind the wicket off just the second ball after the tea-break,the roof,if there was one,would have easily come off at the Wankhede. But having raced to 27 off just 33 balls,Tendulkar slowed down,mainly owing to a steady spell from Sammy,and Bishoos best spell in the series where he almost accounted for Tendulkar,only for Carlton Baugh to put down a simple catch. There were a couple of signature shots that followed off his blade,not to forget an outlandish one an upper-cut off Marlon Samuelss off-spin. At the other end,Dravid was in the middle of his umpteenth masterclass this year. Considering the penchant for flamboyance in their part of the world,it is indeed interesting that Dravid ends up being the favourite Indian cricketer for most West Indians. And his fan following in the Caribbean will definitely have grown on the back of his batting feats in the six Tests he has played against the West Indies over the last six months. Selective strokeplay Here he was selective as always with his strokeplay but a tad adventurous too. He flicked,drove and cut with élan against both pace and Bishoo. Along the way he completed 1000 runs in the calendar year for the third time in his career,and even showed off his football skills by dramatically kicking a ball headed ominously to his stumps to safety. More than anything it showed his undying will to succeed. He fell for the second consecutive time playing a loose cut shot against a part-time off-spinner. On any other day,his 82 would have been the talking point but not this one. When play resumes on the fourth morning,thirty-three runs is what will separate Tendulkar from yet another glory. And despite Sammys friendly threats of breaking a billion Indian hearts on Friday,it seems almost inevitable that the West Indians will fail in their quest.
