Close India 262 for 4 (Tendulkar 113*, Dravid 67)
scorecard

Sachin Tendulkar touched base at Camp Bradman at 4.55pm on a sunlit Trinidadian afternoon, before looking up to the heavens to savour the enormity of his achievement – the defining moment of an engrossing opening day's play between West Indies and India at the Queen's Park Oval in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. His 29th Test hundred arrived - after over twenty minutes spent in the nervous mid-90s - courtesy a square-cut for two off Adam Sanford. It had taken him 194 balls to reach the landmark. Only Sunil Gavaskar is beyond the horizon now. By close of play, the visitors had reached 262 for 4, with Tendulkar still there on 113.

A very fortunate VVS Laxman also saw it through to stumps, on 21, after Brian Lara muffed a fairly straightforward catch at first slip once Cameron Cuffy had taken the new ball. Two other edges failed to carry to Carl Hooper and Ryan Hinds missed with a direct hit that would have left him stranded, leaving Laxman with five lives at his disposal on the morrow.

It was hardly a picture perfect innings from Tendulkar, coming as it did in fits and starts and with more than one jarring note – a bit like an exuberant Buddy Bolden jazz composition. There was an anxious moment early on in the piece - a confident appeal for caught-behind off Sanford turned down by umpire Asoka de Silva though the ball appeared to kiss the outside edge of the bat en route to Junior Murray.

Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid then took India to 70 for 2 at lunch after Hooper had won the toss and elected to field. Dillon and Sanford dismissed both openers against the run of play to give Hooper's judgment the sheen of wisdom before Tendulkar and Dravid shut the door, and secured it.

Tendulkar celebrated the early reprieves with two cracking fours off consecutive balls from Sanford just before lunch – a flowing cover-drive followed by a flick to square leg. Earlier, the opening bowlers seemed intent on throwing away the advantage that captain Carl Hooper had handed them. On a wicket which had a fair sprinkling of live grass, both Dillon and Cuffy moved the ball appreciably, but were woefully off target: Cuffy's second ball started on middle-and-leg and jagged back alarmingly, beating Murray for four byes.

SS Das was secure in his short stay at the crease, but Dillon sent him on his way with an in-dipper that trapped him on his back foot for 10 (18 for 1). Bangar overcame a circumspect start and was growing in confidence, an off-drive off Dillon oozing class. However, he fell in disappointing fashion – an airy waft off a wide delivery from Adam Sanford presenting Junior Murray with a regulation catch behind the stumps. He made just 9.

Dravid played-and-missed at a Dillon jaffa early on, but steered him to third man next ball to get off the mark, and never looked back. He was, as usual, secure in defence, but what stood out was his ability to force the runs. Two flowing cover-drives off Sanford and Marlon Black were the shots of the morning.

After lunch, India batted themselves into a comfortable position, giving the Trini Posse song and dances a slightly artificial, forced air. After the bowlers had kept it tight in the first hour, Dravid and Tendulkar opened out with a flurry of shots just before the interval. Dravid cruised to another half-century with a crisp cut and a superb cover-drive off Sanford, and Tendulkar followed suit soon after, getting over his early-afternoon wobble.

His batting just after lunch was hardly easy on the eye - playing and missing umpteen times, with wafts across the line. He was fortunate to survive two good appeals for leg-before from Dillon and Cuffy. His footwork was diffident, and he kept retreating onto the back foot even though the ball was keeping low.

The West Indies bowlers made things hard for their team by bowling the occasional hit-me ball. Tendulkar scampered towards fifty with the aid of two fours – a glorious square-drive off Sanford and an emphatic pull off Hooper. A tickle down to square leg got him to another half-century as West Indies started to show signs of wilting.

He rubbed it in somewhat, with a gorgeous cover-drive and an uppish square-cut for four off Sanford, while Marlon Black's clumsy Swan Lake imitation over a Dravid off-drive had captain Hooper seething with frustration.

Black – who later left the field with cramps - woke up the slumbering crowd immediately after tea by picking up the crucial wicket of Dravid. A straight delivery, well pitched up, and Dravid played all around it to be bowled for 67 (162 for 3).

Sourav Ganguly batted with some of the fluency of old before giving away his wicket for 25 with a shot that teetered on the border between stupidity and recklessness. Hooper tossed one up and Ganguly charged down the track to loft the ball straight into Dillon's hands at mid-off (218 for 4). The rush of blood may have been prompted by Tendulkar being becalmed in the nineties with Bradman so near and yet so far away.

Tendulkar had stroked his way ever closer to a first century in the Caribbean. He guided Dillon through cover and then crashed him past the same area as 11 came in the over following Dravid's dismissal. When Black came on, he smashed him backward of point before disdainfully dispatching a full toss through cover. Thereafter, he went into a shell, letting even the poor balls get away without punishment.

Ganguly had made sure there was no let up in the pressure, reaching back to his halcyon years to play some gorgeous offside strokes off Dillon, Sanford and Hooper. A deft nudge down to third man off Hooper was breathtaking, as was the flowing drive past cover when Sanford offered width. His morning hadn't got off to the easiest of starts, with experienced leg spinner Anil Kumble dropped in favour of Ashish Nehra - and a three-man pace attack to back Harbhajan Singh. Not that anyone cared by day's end. This was all about Waiting for Tendulkar. And it wasn't in vain.

India 1 SS Das, 2 Sanjay Bangar, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Ajay Ratra (wk), 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Ashish Nehra 10 Javagal Srinath, 11 Zaheer Khan.

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Stuart Williams, 3 Brian Lara, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 7 Junior Murray, 8 Mervyn Dillon, 9 Cameron Cuffy, 10 Marlon Black, 11 Adam Sanford.

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com India; S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com India.

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