Gambhir and Dravid shut out England
Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid both reached personal milestones as India continued their relentless march towards a major total and frustrated England's hopes of fighting back in the final Test.
Already in a commanding position at 179 for one overnight, the pair guided India to a daunting 302 for one at lunch on the second day, with Dravid completing his 26th Test century, while Gambhir reached 1,000 Test runs in 2008.
They extended their partnership to a staggering 296 runs - a second-wicket record for India against England - and left the tourists with just four wickets in the last two-and-a-half days of bowling at India's batsmen, including the final day of the opening Test at Chennai.
Dravid, who entered this Test under pressure for his place after nine innings without a half-century, was the first to reach his landmark after resuming on 65 when play began half an hour early to make up the time lost to bad light on day one.
The former India captain reached his century by clipping James Anderson for a single in the 19th over of the day to claim his first hundred in 20 Test innings, but might have gone before he had even added to his overnight total when a full-length delivery from seamer Stuart Broad kept low and almost hit his off-stump.
It was a brief moment of alarm for the Indian batsmen, who mostly progressed without discomfort, with Dravid hitting Broad's next ball through midwicket for his first four of the day.
Opener Gambhir, who had resumed on 106, was punishing anything short - and when left-arm spinner Monty Panesar was introduced he twice cut him for fours in his first over.
That second new ball failed to stem the run flow either, with James Anderson also being hit for two boundaries by Dravid in his first over back in the attack.
Six boundaries were hit in just 13 balls as India tried to up the tempo and England struggled to contain them.
Gambhir, needing 142 to reach 1,000 runs in only eight Tests in 2008, reached his landmark from Paul Collingwood's first over of the series when he clipped off his legs for two.
