Leeds, August 23:
Centurion
Rahul Dravid, does not find the blows he received on the body
during his innings on Thursday too worrying as eventually the
knock coasted the side to a commanding position on the opening
day of the third Test against England here.
"The fingers have taken a
bit of beating but it is a good feeling when you score a hundred
and you forget all that," said Dravid after his unbeaten 110 took
India to 236 for 2 at stumps on day one of the Test match.
The Indian vice-captain
found the conditions here quite challenging and somewhat similar
to what his team had experienced in the drawn Test at Trent Bridge
last week.
"It had sideways movement
and it swung in the morning as well. It surely was quite
challenging.
"Right through the day,
there was enough assistance for the fast bowlers to keep you
honest," said Dravid.
Dravid was hit on the
knuckles because of the uneven bounce in the pitch which he put to
initial dampness on the wicket.
"The ball marks created a
few dents because of the dampness and I think it created the up
and down bounce.
"You needed a bit of luck
because we played and missed quite a few times. If you don't have
luck you could easily nick one," he added.
Dravid was wholesome in
praise for opener Sanjay Bangar, his partner in 170-run second
wicket association which laid the foundation of India's batting
success today.
"These are kind of
conditions which Sanjay is not used to and he doesn't have the
experience of playing overseas."
"Sanjay showed patience
and a great temperament. He was calm and didn't get unduly hassled
either by the movement or the uneven bounce."
Dravid's century was his
back-to-back in the series and it followed a match-saving 115 at
Trent Bridge.
"Both the innings have
been long innings and involved hard work. I am happy with the way
my form has gone, right through the series actually," said Dravid,
who now has 347 runs from five innings, including two centuries
and one fifty.
Dravid, who completed his
5000 Test runs today, said he wasn't worried about the development
back home which has put the members of the present touring Indian
team and the cricket board on a collision course.
"We had forgotten about
it a couple of days back and concentrated upon this," said Dravid.
"I am really not paying attention to what's happening."
Dravid said he was
hopeful the two spinners in the side, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan
Singh, could prove handy on the last two days as the pitch was
responding to spin.
"I really hope we get
some bounce and unevenness so Anil and Harbhajan Singh can come
into play on the fourth and fifth day."
England coach Duncan
Fletcher praised Dravid and Bangar but came down on his bowlers
for not bowling a fuller length.
"Dravid played a classy
knock and showed why he is a world class batter. India like that
kind of role which he plays because they could build around it.
"Bangar also showed a lot
of guts and took a few knocks. Both of them showed where there
off-stump was.
"We have bowled better on
numerous occasions in the past. In conditions like that, you can't
make the batters leave so many deliveries," said Fletcher.
The English coach said
his team didn't seem to have learnt any lesson from bowling too
short on the first day of the Trent Bridge Test when India scored
210 for four.
"We didn't learn the
lessons of Trent Bridge Test and the conditions were pretty
similar. They just got their line and length wrong."
Fletcher also expressed
disappointment with the form of the two recalled fast bowlers -
Andrew Caddick and Alex Tudor.
"It bounced a lot and
could have confused them (the batsmen) a bit.
"Because of excessive
bounce it didn't suit Tudor and Caddick and they probably need to
learn to bowl a little bit fuller."
