Rahul Dravid today was not just a proud centurion. He was not just solid and correct. He was not just intense, not just distinguished, not just valiant. He was twice all that. At 9.55am this morning, Bourda had heard a sound that some may have found queasy. Dravid had dropped his wrists and taken his eyes of a Mervyn Dillon bumper that never stopped following the batsman, and was hit square on the jaw. If not for the visor, Dravid would be in hospital now, and sucking carrot juice through a straw for the next six months.

Batsmen who are felled by bouncers can react in one of three ways. They can get soft and get out. They can play like there is nothing left to lose and make something memorable - Dravid's batting mate for parts of today and yesterday, VVS Laxman, did so at Sydney three years ago.

Or they can pick themselves up with more purpose. Dravid's great quality today was that he didn't ever try to not be himself. His even greater quality was that he gradually became what he is capable of. His batsmanship had a steadily increasing freedom about it. Yesterday at one point, he was 19 off 93 balls; today he scored at nearly three times the rate.

After overcoming a short period of play following the blow - he described himself later to be feeling "jaded" - he began to open up. A truly glorious flick through midwicket off Dillon proved that the blow was behind him. By the time he had saved an imminent follow-on with an off-drive, there was much to appreciate apart from a fire that kept burning. Just when it seemed that he might be the bridesmaid to Laxman again, Dravid came to the fore. He said that Laxman can sometimes make the man at the other end look "inadequate almost", but Dravid was adequate enough.

Addressing the press with a mouth that looked stuffed with gulab jamuns on one side, he said that "it would not have been right to walk off with the team in trouble. The physio said it would be ok so I just took a few painkillers and batted on." It was a gallant Test century, and should be second in his CV only to Kolkata.

Rahul Bhattacharya is a staff writer with Wisden.com India. His reports will appear here throughout the Test series.

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