There is usually a sense of gravitas when you watch a hundred by Rahul Dravid . He has a way to taking you with him into the contest and you generally get to feel a sense of the battle. There wasn’t an iota of that gravitas yesterday as there wasn’t any battle. Dravid’s knock, as ever, mirrored the conditions, bowling attack and the day’s play.



The pitch was flat and West Indies had their worst bowling day in a while yet. India made themselves look a bit silly by sending, and sacrificing, a night watchman in Ishant Sharma late in the day but it can’t be denied they are in a strong position.



There were the usual Dravid landmarks on view: those on-drives off a stretched front foot, the cuts, the back-foot punches against spin and that resolute dead bat. It was almost a typical innings but you could look at it in two ways. Some might find it difficult to really appreciate it as he wasn’t really tested by the bowlers.



Dravid himself conceded that this was his “easiest hundred” of the four he has at Eden Gardens . Others might say that it was precisely because there was no contest that this knock was valuable. It was easy to get bored and throw your wicket away, as the rest of the top order did, but he managed to keep his concentration levels going through the day.



“I am in a good patch,” Dravid said. “It feels I’m in good space with my game. Mentally as well. I am really trying to make it count, last as I can. Been through a tough time. I feel good... Even in the nets, I feel quite relaxed. Just want to make it count till it lasts. You never know when the tough time is round the corner.”



By the end of the day, India was sitting pretty at 346 for 5 and already, you get the feeling only one team can lose this from here on. (Insert your favourite version of that adage ‘cricket is a funny game’ and all that jazz.)



If you had to criticise India yesterday, it would be for the lack of ruthlessness from the top order. A flat track, an attack lacking focus, and they should have been queuing up for the tons but there were three soft dismissals. Virender Sehwag slugged a full delivery to mid-wicket, Gautam Gambhir chased a wide one and Sachin Tendulkar pulled a long hop to a catcher. However, no one can complain too much with the end-of-the-day score.



At the start of the Test, it was clear that its fate would be determined by how West Indies would compete and they were completely off colour yesterday. It was not as if they didn’t have plans. It’s disappointing only because they couldn’t carry them through. The pitch was slow, there wasn’t any turn or bounce and the bowling had to be disciplined and hit a wicket-to-wicket line but they were all over the place.



They had a leg gully and a square leg for VVS Laxman , hoping he would flick one to waiting palms but they repeatedly pushed it too far down the leg side. Laxman flicked around the fielders. At least in the Delhi Test there were couple of moments when he would turn around quickly after flicking to ensure the ball hasn’t gone to a catcher. Here he showed no such anxiety. There was no need to.



The seamers tried to bowl short at Tendulkar with a short leg and another catching man on the leg side but the radar wasn’t great. As it turned out, Tendulkar, who survived a plausible shout for lbw against Devendra Bishoo , hit a long hop straight to mid-wicket.



It was a bit puzzling to find out what exactly was the plan against Sehwag and Gambhir. Perhaps it was ‘let’s bore them out of their heads by bowling tripe’. Sehwag is easily bored. He rarely has any tons against the weaker teams like Zimbabwe or Bangladesh and yesterday was no different. He had creamed Darren Sammy for a hat-trick of boundaries before the first drinks break and hit the first delivery upon resumption to a catcher. You weren’t surprised.



Gambhir couldn’t keep himself focused too long after reaching his fifty and deposited a wide delivery to short cover. Luckily, for India, VVS Laxman was in mood and he flicked, tapped, and drove his way to another fifty. No doubt there would be talk in the papers about how Laxman and Dravid love batting together at the Eden. A touch of romance and nostalgia never hurts though Dravid didn’t allow it to linger by dragging a harmless delivery from Kraigg Brathwaite on to his stumps.



The pitch had nothing in it and it only raised the question of whether playing on these tracks is the right preparation for the Australian tour? On the flip side, can any Indian pitch these days prepare you for Australia? On a day like this, one is just left pondering rhetorical questions.