The Wall remains firm as ever

They all expected a century from him, an expectation he failed to fulfill. But then he played with passion and demonstrated some of the most exquisite strokes as if he had saved them for the occasion.

It was batsmanship, pure and unadulterated. Ashley Giles, the man who had repeatedly frustrated Tendulkar, would never forget those two boundaries that Tendulkar scored against him. Both Cork and Tudor looked helpless when they conceded boundaries to Tendulkar.

At one point Tendulkar had 29 runs with seven fours. With Sachin in full flow and India’s impregnable wall, Rahul Dravid, in absolute control, it looked ominous for Nasser Hussain’s men. Hussain, perfecting the art of captaincy, made frequent changes both in bowling and fielding.

With a cracking four off Giles, Tendulkar completed his 50 but his mesmerising display came to a premature end at 54 with 10 fours when Cork trapped in front of the wickets. At 178 for three India look quite vulnerable.

For purists Tendulkar played beautifully well. For pragmatists he failed to rise to the occasion again. What India needed from Tendulkar was a slow, patient, time consuming and perhaps a boring innings. The passionate cricketer refused to oblige.

But Dravid triumphed where Tendulkar failed. His patience ran deeper than the Pacific; his courage touched the heights of the Himalayas. Slowly and steadily he marched towards his third successive century of the series and joining the ranks of the greats like Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar and Mohammad Azharuddin.

After Tendulkar’s departure Ganguly and Dravid carefully phased their innings and completed the hundred partnership in 171 balls. Then in a sudden rush of blood Ganguly attempted a hook off Cork for Alec Stewart to pouch a catch, his 200th as wicket-keeper, to leave India at 283 for four. New batsman VVS Laxman and Dravid saw through the day to be 315 for four at stumps — just one run short of saving the follow on. India may have almost accomplished their first task but are certainly still not out of the woods.