It’s a pity that Saturday’s play, swinging as much through the course of the day as the second new ball under misty morning conditions, ended in such a shame. At a time when the sun shone the brightest than at any other point on the second day, play had already been terminated nine overs before the 108-over target — making a mockery of the discretion umpires used to begin play this morning to make up for Friday’s lost time.

As the Indian innings folded up just past 4.30 pm, England openers Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss dashed back to the dressing room to pad up in the 10-minute changeover. Before they took guard though, the umpires — Asad Rauf and Daryl Harper — checked their meters and offered them the light, which they gleefully accepted. But even before the Indian team crossed the boundary ropes, the clouds cleared and perfect conditions prevailed. However, under ICC regulations, batsmen cannot be called back if they’ve been offered the light after cut-off time — 4.30 pm in this case — thus bringing the day’s proceedings to a premature, and slightly farcical, end.

What that did was prevent an intriguing passage of play after England had done well to bowl India out for 453 — a batting collapse in the second half of the day’s proceedings further reiterating the value of Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir’s 314-run second-wicket partnership. In the context of India’s eventual total, it was priceless.

They kept Kevin Pietersen’s attack out for the entire first session, and with the early pressure having eased, looked to up the tempo. Dravid, who had scored 65 off 205 deliveries on Day One, got to his first century in 19 innings off 261 deliveries with 13 boundaries. Gambhir himself survived the England bowlers’ initial burst and pushed forward from his overnight 106 to 167 by the time the first session ended, going past the 1000-run mark for this calendar year (the fourth Indian this year), as confidence overtook caution at the crease.

... contd.