Rahul Dravid Scores His Maiden Lord's Ton

Rahul Dravid scored his 33rd Test hundred, which was also his maiden at Lord's on Saturday.

Coming in to bat after India opener Gautam Gambhir fell cheaply when the team total was 63, Dravid once again lived up to his nick-name "The Wall" by staying at the crease even as the rest of the batsmen including Sachin Tendulkar got out cheaply.

This century would be all the more precious for the former India skipper as once he had missed his ton at the prestigious Lord's by five runs.

The man had scored 95 on his Test debut at Lord's way back in 1996.

"This place always brings back some very special memories," Dravid told reporters at Lord's ahead of the Test.

"I always feel in some strange way at home, I feel this is a place of cricket, I feel this is a place that understands cricket. I even come here when I am not playing," added Dravid, a member of the world cricket committee of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord's.

"That first innings, meant a lot to me. I had played five years of first-class cricket. I had some good fortune to be able to play that Test match, there were a few injuries and I was lucky to get an opportunity.

"I knew it might be my only chance and I'd have to go back to India and start again -- and a lot of batsmen score first-class runs in India.

"I never expected that I'd be here 15 years later talking about it."

Dravid, recalling his debut innings in what turned out to be a drawn match, added: "I knew when I was 50 not out I had a bit more breathing space. It gave me a lot of confidence."

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