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Rahul Dravid played as purposefully as he has ever done in Test cricket to lead India's comeback from 32 for 4 in the first half hour. Along the way, he got involved in his 77th 100-run partnership, a world record, came seven short of passing Steve Waugh to become the fifth-highest run-getter in Tests, and also undid the superb start that two rookies provided Sri Lanka with. Chanaka Welegedara and Dammika Prasad - four Tests and 15 wickets between them - were not even supposed to play this match but pair combined to give India flashbacks of their previous Test in Ahmedabad, when they were shot out for 76 by South Africa.

Test cricket it might be, but it rattled along at a breathtaking pace and refused to slow even with wickets falling. Even when Dravid and Yuvraj Singh hurtled along during their 125-run stand, Kumar Sangakkara kept attacking fields in. The start that he got allowed him to do so.

The first day of the Test season got off to an unusual start too: Welegedara, in the side for an injured Nuwan Kulasekara, attacked Gautam Gambhir's stumps, who blocked and ran, and Virender Sehwag caressed the next delivery through the covers. Another boundary came in the next over, and it started looking ominous for Sri Lanka.

But Welegedara had got the ball to swing, and it played on Gambhir's mind when he poked almost outside the line of a straight delivery and played it on. Sehwag continued attacking and succeeding until Welegedara produced a perfect inswinger; the umpire Tony Hill adjudged a perfect lbw decision, ruling that the ball hit the pad first and in front of middle and off.

Out came Sachin Tendulkar, 20 years and a day old in international cricket, at 27 for 2. Out came a perfect cover-drive first ball. And out went Tendulkar, at 31 for 3, having played outside the line of a ball that slightly held its line. Prasad got into action soon when VVS Laxman dragged one on, playing away from the body and done in by slight inward movement.

All four wickets came attacking the stumps and Sri Lanka continued doing just that. Dravid and Yuvraj, having realised this wasn't a beast to bat on, counterattacked. Dravid got going through late clips off his pads, Yuvraj through a thick edge past gully. Immediately, though, Yuvraj corrected it with a picture-perfect cover-drive. Sangakkara perhaps missed a trick by introducing Angelo Mathews before Muttiah Muralitharan, and both Yuvraj and Dravid enjoyed the gentle pace and length balling. A couple of classy shots from Dravid later, the two had added 34 in 32 deliveries even before Murali was introduced.

Yuvraj faced the first over from Murali. The high back lift kept everybody interested, but he showed good judgement of the topspinner and regular offbreak. Driving through the line looked easy while the two were at it. Rangana Herath - playing ahead of Ajantha Mendis - was taken for a six by Dravid and a four by Yuvraj when he was introduced about 20 minutes before lunch.

Post lunch, too, the duo kept attacking. Dravid saw off Welegedara's swing with three boundaries in one over that summed up how well he played. One of the them was clipped late, to the right of midwicket, the next was cover-driven all along the ground, and the third flicked to the left of midwicket - all despite the swing. The first one of those brought up his fifty in 79 balls, outscoring Yuvraj.

Yuvraj's innings wasn't as spotless, despite three high-elbow off-drives for the photo album. Prasad, in his later spells either side of lunch, found his body with bouncers. Yuvraj bottom-edged a pull for four, upper-cut over slips for another, but then made his first outright mistake in Murali's next over, the bowler's seventh. He stepped out, saw he was beaten in the flight, but as opposed to thrusting his pad forward, he presented it both bat and pad.

That wicket gone, Dravid and MS Dhoni came hard at Sri Lanka again. Outstanding were two drives from Dravid against Murali: one against the spin through extra cover, the other straight down the ground. By tea, the two had added 64 and Dravid had survived his first error: edging a doosra just short of first slip.