Standing tall

It8217;s difficult to find a common link between a youngster bent on making the most of a golden run of form and an old hand fighting to rediscover his touch.

It8217;s difficult to find a common link between a youngster bent on making the most of a golden run of form and an old hand fighting to rediscover his touch. One trait they do have in common is that both Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid love to carry their match bats back to their hotel rooms, fiddle with them and indulge in a bit of shadow practice. On Friday, they also carried their bats through the first day8217;s play at the PCA Stadium in Mohali 8212; Dravid spending just 14 minutes less than Gambhir8217;s day-long vigil.

The left-hander scored his second consecutive century at this ground, as well as his third of the year, adding another coating to a purple patch that has already seen him score 964 runs this calendar year. And Dravid managed to find his way out of a barren patch, bringing up his first half-century in nine outings. At the end of a shortened day8217;s play, India reached 179/1 8212; Gambhir unbeaten on 106 and Dravid on 65 8212; in a 173-run second-wicket partnership.

Long delays

A 20-minute delay at the start of play, and stumps being called 42 minutes early due to bad light, meant a loss of 18 overs in the day, and the ICC might consider leaving the decision on using floodlights on the match-referee rather than the captains.

India remained unaffected by the early delay, and after winning an important toss, settled into a crawl that was perhaps sparked by the nature of the pitch 8212; one which afforded a bit of help initially, but then chose to remain unresponsive to the quicks and spin bowlers alike.

They lost the big wicket of Virender Sehwag right after play started, caught behind without scoring to the impressive Stuart Broad, who had replaced Steve Harmison in the line-up after returning from injury. James Anderson at the other end was pitching it up to extract maximum swing but Gambhir and Dravid survived that early burst.

Mellowed Gambhir

With Dravid battling more than just the England attack 8212; he had some personal demons to conquer as well 8212; Gambhir showed his own ability to play with soft hands and a straight bat. There were, of course, a few jabs through third-man, but overall he was most dominant through the covers. He played both Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann with the spin and used his feet to good effect, stepping down the track to smash the latter for a six over long-off.

Swann might have had him twice 8212; on 70, he was dropped by Paul Collingwood at slip and, one run later, he survived a strong leg-before appeal that went through with the arm. Apart from the little hiccups, Gambhir remained fluent, especially between his half-century and the time he reached the 90s. He has had a habit of throwing away starts, and the Delhi left-hander, bogged down by a tight field, was growing edgy. A lucky splice through the off-side took him to 99, before a quick two on the on-side brought up his hundred off 214 balls with eleven boundaries and a six.

Luckless England

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Kevin Pietersen, meanwhile, was left ruing his luck. There were a couple of good shouts that didn8217;t go his way, and more than a few edges or mishits failed to find fielders. The constant drizzle and overcast conditions dashed any hopes they might have had of getting some reverse swing with the old ball but, to their credit, England were able to keep India8217;s run-rate to under three an over. With the new ball almost due, and an early morning start in the offing, Day Two could still see the visitors claw their way back into this game.