REUTERS
India's captain, Rahul Dravid (right), runs with teammate Sachin Tendulkar during a practice session in Lahore on Friday. Both players made half centuries yesterday in their team's practice match against Pakistan A.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP):
INDIAN CAPTAIN Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar opened their three-day warm up against Pakistan A with half centuries yesterday ahead of next week's first Test against Pakistan.
Earlier, openers Gautam Gambhir (53) and Wasim Jaffer (58) also made strong bids to open in next week's first Test against Pakistan with solid half centuries as the second string Pakistan bowling attack toiled hard in chilly cold weather at Bagh-e-Jinnah Ground.
Tendulkar made an attractive 74 with 10 boundaries while Dravid scored 63 as India finished the day at 298 for four before bad light stopped play six overs before the scheduled stumps.
V.V.S. Laxman was batting on 25 at the close of play, while Yuvraj Singh was not out on 11.
Tendulkar spent two hours at the wicket and faced 102 balls before medium fast Yasir Arafat had him caught behind in the last session.
SIDELINED SINCE 2002
"I am happy that I have scored runs in the first match, and if given an opportunity I would like to repeat it in the Test matches," said Jaffer, who has played seven Test matches but has been sidelined since 2002.
After Dravid elected to bat first on a flat batting track, the Indian openers combined for a solid 81-run opening stand before rookie fast bowler Mohammad Irshad got the breakthrough just before lunch.
Gambhir, who brought up his half century with a cracking square driven boundary, failed to repeat the stroke off the next delivery and was caught at point.
Jaffer and Dravid then added 73 runs but both departed in the second session. Jaffer edged to wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider off paceman Umar Gul (1-40), while Dravid was neatly caught low in the covers by captain Hasan Raza after facing 100 balls and hitting seven fours.
