By IANS,
Mohali : Rahul Dravid regained his touch and Gautam Gambhir continued his great run with the bat as their unfinished century stand took India to 134 for one at tea on the opening day of the second cricket Test against England at the Punjab cricket Association Stadium here Friday.
Gambhir was batting 78 (10 fours) at the break and Dravid just got to his fifty (six fours) as the two battled out the 32 overs in the post-lunch session without being separated.
For Gambhir, this is his highest score against Engand, surpassing his 66 in the second innings of the Chennai Test, whereas it is Dravid’s first fifty in nine innings.
Earlier, the match started late by 20 minutes due to bad light and overcast conditions.
India faced early trouble after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni chose to bat on winning the toss, with opener Virender Sehwag falling for nought.
Sehwag, who had paved the way for India winning the Chennai Test, was caught behind by Matt Prior off Stuart Broad in the second over of the match.
With Sehwag falling early, India could not get off to their customary brist start. Gambhir, however, kept the scoreboard moving as Dravid played himself into form.
Gambhir, cut, drove and pulled with ease and did not hesitate to smash Monty Panesar for two fours in the last over before lunch.
Dravid had piece of good fortune when his pull off James Anderson fell in no-man’s land.