Classy Dravid leads India's fightback
The poetry continued, and got even more romantic. Rahul Dravid treated the world with one of his most fluent, classy and authoritative innings. And he isn’t done yet, going into the tea break, he was batting at 98 with India at 221/5. Clearly the post-lunch session belonged to India, where the team fought back to put 116 runs and lost only one wicket of Yuvraj.
 Dravid led India's fightback in post-lunch session which produced 116 runs. © AFP |
Dravid began the post-lunch session with three sparkling strokes to the fence in the 29th over. A gorgeous drive through the covers, a magical flick off the wrists, a stylish on-drive through the mid-wicket and then he raised the bat to celebrate the 58th Test half-century.
Yuvraj, on the other hand was a good blend of aggression, style and maturity. He treated good balls with respect, played copy-book shots with elegance and dispatched bad balls out of his sight with disdain.
His stay at the wicket looked in danger as Prasad caused him discomfort by pitching it short. Yuvraj got hit on his shoulders for the second time, then scored a boundary off an inside edge and then executed a last-moment upper-cut successfully to the third-man fence.
Now, the time was just right to stay longer at the wicket and convert a good start into something big. However, a slight indiscretion resulted in Yuvraj’s dismissal. He danced down the track to Muralitharan, changed his plans at the last moment, and could only manage to offer a thick edge to Dilshan at the short covers. The wily old warhorse struck for Sri Lanka and the wonderful partnership between Dravid and Yuvraj for the fifth wicket lasted for 125 runs.
But Dravid went on. He went on to mesmerise us all with his class. And what mermerised the most was the aggressive intent with which he got his runs, even as he shouldered the responsibility of bailing his team out of a precarious situation. He took the aerial route and looked to impose himself on the bowler.
Dammika Prasad bowled well to Dravid, keeping it full and straight for most of the times, but even a faint error from the bowler and he was punished brutally by the master technician.
With spinners operating in tandem, Dravid got an able partner in skipper MS Dhoni, who not only plays spin well but is also adroit in keep the score ticking. Together they put on 64 unbeaten runs and made sure India lost just one wicket in the second session for 116 runs.
