Rah Rah Rahul

Pressing on relentlessly in their pursuit of a first-ever series triumph in Pakistan,India had the home side on the mat after Rahul Dravid reached another batting landmark by scoring 270 on the third day ofthe series-deciding Test today.

After scoring a massive 600 to take a mammoth 376-run first innings lead by the post-tea session, the visitorsknocked off both the Pakistan openers to leave the hosts struggling at 49 for two. Pakistan had made 224 in their firstessay.

Dravid, who had been batting since the last session of Day One, became the first Indian to have scored five doublecenturies in Test cricket before he fell after tea, reverse sweeping an Imran Farhat ballonto his stumps. The 495-ball effort, the Indian vice-captain's career-best knock,contained a six and 34 boundaries.

Hit hard by the absence of their best bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who injured his thumb on thefollow-through towards the close of play last evening and did not come out at all today, Pakistan bowlers toiled all day but gotsuccess only when it was already too late. 

The highlight of the day's proceedings was certainly the batsmanship of Dravid who again lived upto his reputation as"The Wall" and slammed his third double century of the season to take his tally to five and eclipse SunilGavaskar's record of four double tons. Dravid also became the fourth Indian toscore a double ton against Pakistan after Virender Sehwag, Sanjay Manjrekar andAnshuman Gaekwad.

The vice-captain also earned the distinction of scoring the highest total at the Pindi Stadium, erasing SalimMalik's effort of 237.

Dravid displayed tremendous concentration and stamina during his marathon 740-minute vigil at the crease which sawhim share century stands with three of the top order batsmen -- opener Parthiv Patel, VVS Laxman and skipperSaurav Ganguly.

Ganguly made a fine 128-ball 77 with the help of 12 fours before he was dismissed in a bizarre fashion -- being run outafter he ducked to a throw from Imran Farhat from point. Yuvraj Singh also chipped in with a valuable 47.

Dravid was the ninth batsman to fall and the Indian first innings folded up for 600 just a few minutes before the lastdrinks break.

Resuming at the overnight score of 342 for four, Dravid and Ganguly played out the initial overs cautiously and werequite content in waiting for the loose balls for keeping the scoreboard ticking.

A depleted Pakistan bowling attack relied on Mohammad Sami and Fazl-e-Akbar to provide the breakthrough in themorning but the duo were made to look pedestrian against some quality batting by the opposition.

Dravid appeared a picture of concentration as he continued from where he left yesterday and brought about his 150 instyle, square driving Sami to the point boundary.

The pair put on 131 runs for the fifth wicket before Ganguly was run out, paying the price for some poor runningbetween the wickets.

The left-hander played the ball towards point and went for a cheeky single but failed to ground his bat. Ganguly madethe mistake of trying to avoid the ball hitting him rather than running straight, giving the fielder just that extrasecond to do his job.

Yuvraj, who joined the action after his captain's dismissal, took his time to judge the pace and bounce of thetrack and was quite content in keeping the scoreboard moving with gentle pushes and nudges in the intitial stages of hisinnings.

But after getting his eye in, Yuvraj showed his class with some breath-taking shots, picking up Akbar forspecial treatment by clobbering him for a couple of boundaries.

Dravid and Yuvraj stitched 98 runs for the sixth wicket before Sami, who returned for a fresh spell after the drinksbreak, got rid of Yuvraj, trapping him leg before wicket.

Dravid, who was dropped on 71 yesterday, had another slice of luck when a confident shout for a catch byFarhat at forward short leg was turned down by umpire David Shepherd with DanishKaneria being the bowler. 

Irfan Pathan, who scored a gritty 49 in the last Test in Lahore, played sensibly and tried to give as much support aspossible to Dravid who showed remarkable application during  his monumental knock. 

But after tea, Pathan, Anil Kumble and Lakshmipathy Balaji fell quickly trying to put on some quick runs on theboard.

At close, Yasir Hameed was batting on eight while Kamran Akmal was on 13.

PTI