Eden Gardens : Rahul Dravid cracked a brilliant 119 to put India on course for a big
total on the opening day of the second Test against the West Indies at
the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday.The 38-year-old batsman hit two sixes and nine fours in his 36th Test
hundred, and the fifth of the year, as the hosts reached 346-5 in their
first innings at stumps after winning the toss on a good batting pitch.Only India's Sachin Tendulkar (51), South African Jacques Kallis (40)
and Australian Ricky Ponting (39) have scored more Test centuries than
Dravid. India lead 1-0 in the three-Test series following their
five-wicket win in the opening match in New Delhi.Dravid never looked in trouble in his 207-ball knock, impressing with
his shot-selection during his long stay at the crease to put India in a
strong position with three valuable partnerships.He added 83 runs for the second wicket with Gautam Gambhir (65), 56 for
the next with Sachin Tendulkar and 140 for the fourth wicket with
Venkatsai Laxman, who was unbeaten with a solid 73 when bad light
stopped play.Dravid completed his hundred when he turned a no-ball from paceman Kemar
Roach behind square-leg for a four before inside-edging part-time
spinner Kraigg Brathwaite's delivery on to his stumps in the day's
penultimate over.India lost one more wicket when nightwatchman Ishant Sharma was caught
behind off Roach. Laxman, who made an unbeaten 58 in the last Test, has
so far hit five fours in his second successive half-century.Tendulkar, who needs just one hundred to complete an unprecedented 100th
international century, had been batting confidently before falling for
38, pulling leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo to Marlon Samuels at mid-wicket.
Dravid continued to bat comfortably against both pace and spin, lofting
Bishoo over long-off and part-time spinner Samuels over long-on for
sixes.Tendulkar, who has also scored 48 hundreds in one-day internationals,
looked in excellent form as he turned Fidel Edwards to fine-leg for his
first four and then drove Roach through the covers for another boundary.He survived a confident appeal for leg-before on 25 while attempting to
sweep Bishoo before being dismissed by the same bowler in the afternoon
session, much to the disappointment of nearly 10,000 spectators.The West Indies struggled for success on a pitch which had little in it
for the bowlers, with seamer Darren Sammy, Edwards, Bishoo, Roach and
Brathwaite each taking one wicket.Gambhir fell to a loose shot, driving an Edwards delivery straight to
Adrian Barath at short cover after adding eight runs to his lunch score
of 57. He hit eight fours in his 17th half-century in 43 Tests.India got off to a solid start as Gambhir and aggressive Virender Sehwag
(38) put on 66 in 12.1 overs for the opening wicket. Sehwag played some
handsome shots against the West Indies pace attack, hitting eight fours
in his brisk 33-ball knock before driving Sammy straight to Barath at
short mid-wicket
