We've got our noses ahead - Dravid

Rahul Dravid has carried his form from the Mohali Test before Christmas and the Indian domestic season on to New Zealand. He put India on the right track before missing out on what could have been his fifth century in his last seven first-class matches

Sidharth Monga in Hamilton

19-Mar-2009

Rahul Dravid has carried his form from the Mohali Test before Christmas and the Indian domestic season on to New Zealand. Before missing out on what could have been his fifth century in his last seven first-class matches he had put India on the right track, despite the early dismissal of Virender Sehwag and the ample help the medium-pacers received from the conditions. There were contributions of equal significance from Gautam Gambhir, who looked good for a century himself, and Sachin Tendulkar, who will be targeting one tomorrow.

Dravid's favourite catches

When Rahul Dravid dived to his left at third slip to catch Martin Guptill, he equalled Mark Waugh's record of 181 catches. He dropped Daniel Vettori later in the day, but for which the record would have been his alone. He acknowledged the drop today, and spoke about reaching the milestone.

"Taking catches has given me probably as much pleasure as scoring runs has - being part of someone else's success as a catcher. That has been a thrilling experience for me. To have taken so many catches is also to me a reflection of the quality of attack that I have been lucky to have played with in all these 12-13 years that I have played for India."

He spoke of his most memorable catches. "I took Damien Martyn in the Adelaide Test off Sachin's bowling and we went on to win the Test match. It was a critical phase; Sachin took Martyn and Steve Waugh, and I caught them both. I took Martyn at slip, it was an important one, one that I valued and cherished. Another one off Mark Waugh at backward short-leg in the Chennai Test during that great series in 2001 off Harbhajan's bowling. Mark Waugh was batting on 50-60, and we couldn't give them a big lead. It was a sharp chance to my right. These two are the ones that probably stand out in my memory."

Although Dravid's was a solid innings, one that didn't keep the bowlers interested, he reckoned the pitch kept doing something throughout the day. "I really felt good today," he said. "My feet really moved well, and I got into the right position right through the day. I was scoring at a fairly decent clip. I got a pretty good delivery at that stage; the ball was still seaming a bit even after it was 60-65 overs old. Overall I'm quite satisfied, but it would have been nice to go on and get a big score."

Dravid might have got out at an inopportune time, but India held firm control of the match. At the end of the day they were just one run behind New Zealand's 279, with six wickets in hand. But Dravid felt India would need to bat well in the first session tomorrow to take complete control. "Sachin is still batting really well," he said. "Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh], [MS] Dhoni, the lower order can bat. We'd probably have liked to have lost one less wicket. That would have been an ideal scenario for us. If we bat well in the first session, and build a lead, we can put the pressure on them in the third innings.

"Obviously, from 60 for six [yesterday, when India had taken six wickets in the first session], you would have liked to think we would be in a better position, but we'll take this. At the end of the second day, if someone said we would be one run behind with six wickets in hand, we would have taken it."

India have put themselves in a really good position to win their first Test in New Zealand since 1976. If they do win this match they will back themselves to win their first series in New Zealand since 1968. But Dravid is not thinking about all that at the moment. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he said. "Let's take it session by session, one day at a time. We have got our noses ahead at the end of day two. Let's win a few more sessions and then start thinking about it day by day. They are a good side and they have shown that they bat deep. We are going to have to play really well. That doesn't change."

Rahul Dravid India New Zealand New Zealand vs India India tour of New Zealand

Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo