Ind Aus T1 Day 1 Stumps: Sehwag, Dravid Centuries Lift India; NZ Hope to Crawl Back

Virender Sehwag was the obvious choice to dent New Zealand. But Rahul Dravid needs to be commended as well for the manner in which he grit out the tough period to then hurt the visitors as India finished strongly at stumps on the first day of the first Test of the India New Zealand at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad.

rahul dravid at motera

The dashing opener was at his scintillating best as he smacked 173 runs of the 329 that India scored in the course of the day. It was tragedy in that sense then that the prolific run scorer capitalized on partially on one dropped catch to give New Zealand respite when he was bowled out by the New Zealand captain, Daniel Vettori.

However, Rahul Dravid proved to the unlikely hero of the day as he struggled for the better part of the first session trying to string runs together. That though changed half an hour after lunch as Dravid found his groove, began to pierce the field with consistency and grew into his old self. The sheer amount of hard work paid off in the form of a century that helped India further their ambitions against a New Zealand that is definitely struggling with changed faces and a bit of stagnancy of ideas.

The partnership for the second wicket was over 200 runs to entrench the New Zealanders under the hot sun. So, it would be with some relief that the Black Caps would have been happy to see the back of Sehwag and Dravid thereafter as Chris Martin picked up his first for the Test.

But New Zealand's troubles, it has to be said, can be considered far from over with Sachin Tendulkar and V.V.S. Laxman cautiously taking India to stumps with the prospect of another day's enticing batting awaiting them.

For New Zealand, the daunting challenge would be to learn from the first day's experience to strike back stronger on the second day to restrict India. But that will be easier said than done.