On the Journey to Dravid's maiden Test century

         As Dravid made his debut in the second test against England in 1996, he fell short of 5 runs to reach his first Test hundred. Later in the next match (i.e. third test for India and Dravid's second Test) India was looking to level the series as it was the last Test of the series.. Earlier England won the first Test, the second Test was drawn at the Lord's, hence the third and final one played at Nottingham was the series decider.. India won the toss and elected to bat first. As the openers in that time Rathore and Mongia fell short in single digits, Ganguly and Tendulkar batted brilliantly scoring their centuries 136 and 177 respectively. Both of them added 255 runs for the team. Then came in Manjrekar and captain Azharuddin. The captain was out for 5 runs.. Then came in Rahul Dravid at number 7. Dravid once again exhibited his techniques and reached his half century. As Dravid was at 61,  Manjrekar fell out for 53 runs. Now Dravid was left alone with the lower order to help his team. Dravid did his part to the team by scoring his 84 runs and this brought India's total to 521.. Once again Dravid fell short of century as like in his first Test, but this time in eighties. The third and final match was drawn and England won the series.

Dravid's debut series would have been disappointing ,  but his individual scores had reasons to be in limelight. His average from two tests were 62.33, third highest debut average after Ganguly and Tendulkar. Thereafter the Indian team returned from England tour, India played only Test match against Australia at New Delhi where Dravid scored 40 and India won the only Test match. Later in November 1996, South Africa toured India for three match Test series, where Dravid scored 24 & 34 , 31 & 23 , 7 & 56 respectively in three tests in which India won the first and last Test to win the series. As finishing the series at home, the Indian Team toured to South Africa to play three Test against the same opponents. The south African pitch was not the one that is similar as in India.. It is highly known for its fast bowling pitches. Every cricket enthusiasts knows this.




The first Test match at Durban was won by South Africa where Dravid scored 7 & 27* . In the second Test at Cape Town was also won by South Africa where Dravid was tried as an opener , scored 2 & 12 . Hence South Africa won the series. India entered into their Third Test at Johannesburg for a consolation win. India won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers started off slowly and when Rathore fell out for 13, in came Dravid at number three(his favorite slot). The South African pitches were not an easy pitch to bat against fast bowlers. Dravid was tested against the bowling stalwarts like Allan Donald who was also popularly called as 'White Lightning' , Hansie Cronje and Shaun Pollock. But Dravid haven't stepped back, he excelled every ball that he faced. It was said that the practice Dravid had at the Bangalore Chinnaswamy stadium with wet tennis ball on the steps of the pavilion had helped him to withstand every deliveries he faced. At the close of day 1, Dravid was 81 not out. And finally came the moment for Dravid on the second day's play, when he scored his maiden Test Century. Nothing stopped him to achieve this, even the Donald attack.. Even-though the series was lost, third test was drawn on a good note as Dravid scored 148 and 81 in the first and second innings respectively which gained him the Man of the Match award.. 

Check out Dravid's maiden century at Johannesburg :
                                                                                                                                                       

                     

Video Source : YouTube