It's Dravid's day as India grind Zimbabwean bowling

The third day's play was hardly a battle between bat and ball. It was more of an exhibition on how the willow should be wielded. From Shiv Sunder Das to Rahul Dravid to Sachin Tendulkar there was no joy for Zimbabwe. The only saving grace was the fact that Das is playing just his second Test match, and therefore was a bit more reserved than was really necessary. On the other hand, neither Rahul Dravid nor Sachin Tendulkar exhibited any shyness. If anything, Rahul Dravid was more forceful than ever. It was a big day for the young man. He not only notched up his seventh Test hundred, but also crossed the milestone of 3000 runs in the longer version of the game. In doing so, he propelled India to a strong position of 275/2 at stumps on the third day of the first Test at the Kotla on Monday. John Wright said earlier that he could not work any magic. If he can inspire Dravid to approach the game as he did, no miracles will be needed.

Resuming on nine for no loss, openers Sadagoppan Ramesh and Das made yet another beginning. Having safely played out the few overs on offer the previous day, the openers once again set their sights on posting a good response. This however, wasn't to be. Ramesh played all over a quick straight ball from Heath Streak and was trapped plumb in front. This brought Dravid and Das together. Assuming a role not usually associated with him, Dravid was the aggressor even as Das played quietly and solidly at one end.

A flurry of boundaries from the blade of the Karnataka stylist's bat saw the pair push the scoring rate. Henry Olonga did the Zimbabwean cause no good by bowling all over the place. Striving for pace, Olonga was in turns either too full or too short. Either way, the result was the same, the ball being dispatched to the fence with disdain.

After making a good half century, Das too found himself trapped leg before. Perhaps this was the only time in the day when Olonga landed the ball in the right place. Das had impressed in his knock of 58. Striking the ball hard for a man his size, the Orissa opener sent the ball to the fence six times.

The large crowd roared as Sachin Tendulkar walked out to the middle. To an Indian crowd there will never be anyone closer to the heart than Tendulkar. When he made his way to the middle, Dravid already had a well made 58 to his credit. And yet, the roars that greeted Tendulkar was deafening. Dravid certainly cornered his fair share of the applause in the overs that ensued. Tendulkar started off a bit tentatively, by his high standards anyway. Not timing the ball perfectly, and a bit anxious running between the wickets, Tendulkar moved cautiously on.

Dravid was never troubled. The Zimbabwe captain rotated his bowlers around as much as was effective, but none could trouble Dravid. Taking a leaf out of the Zimbabweans' book, he used the sweep at will against the spinners. Even going down the wicket when the ball was given a bit of air brought success for Dravid. However, he was truly magnificent against the mediumpacers. When the bowling was a tad short, or wide enough to allow him to open his shoulders, Dravid rocked onto his back foot and crashed the ball away. Peppering the ropes in all parts of the ground, Dravid cut and pulled in domineering fashion.

While Dravid marched on, Tendulkar too found his golden touch and Zimbabwe's misery was complete. Playing copybook shots, the maestro presented the full face of his very heavy bat to anything that was bowled at him. Taking three consecutive boundaries off Olonga, Tendulkar raised the level of batsmanship to a very high standard.

The second new ball was taken just as the day was coming to a close. It hardly made any difference to the Indians. When the umpires took the players off the field, Tendulkar had made a solid unbeaten 70 (164 balls, 10 fours), even as Dravid had 118 of the finest runs to his credit. Although he didn't hit a single ball over the ropes, his 17 boundaries went a long way in demoralising the Zimbabweans. At 275/2 with VVS Laxman and skipper Ganguly yet to come, India are sitting pretty in this Test match. The Zimbabwean bowlers will have to pull up their socks in a hurry if they are going to trouble India's batsmen. The bowling section of the scoreboard was a pathetic sight... if you are a Zimbabwean. Olonga went for 51 runs in 14 overs, Paul Strang conceded 40 from 13 overs and Murphy in turn was ineffective enough to give away over 50 runs from his 20-odd overs.