India looking at 400 mark: Dravid

PERTH: Rahul Dravid was visibly disappointed at his crass shot which cost India it's advantage on the first day of the third cricket Test against Australia but felt 400 was still a possible total at WACA.
    
"I am particularly disappointed that it (dismissal) came towards the end of the days play, also with the new ball around the corner," said Dravid who scored a gritty 93.
    
"But I had played a similar shot previously, when you connect it, it looks okay and when you don't it's looks really stupid," he said.
    
Dravid might have tried sounding philosophical but the hard fact is a score of nearly 300 for 4 has now been made into 297 for 6 with all the advantage resting with the hosts.
    
"Still, we can look at the positives, there were some fighting performances during the day. We still have some batting left and hopefully the lower order can contribute a bit and push us towards 400 which probably we would have liked at the start of the innings."
    
Dravid, who now shares a dubious record with Steve Waugh for having been dismissed 10 times in the nervous 90s in Tests, said he preferred wickets where the ball came on to the bat, like in WACA, than those where the ball kept low and slow.
    
"On such wickets, there are a lot more scoring opportunities. Personally, I favour it because you can play all round the wicket, not the slow and low types where a lot of backfoot play is ruled out."
    
Having said so, Dravid did not deny that it was not a completely fast bowlers pitch as everyone had been predicting at the start of the days play.
    
"Its a good cricket wicket, the ball comes on the bat and there is something in it for the fast bowlers."
    
Having returned to his spot of number three, Dravid again seemed to be getting back to his form.
    
"Its a familiar batting position and also because the openers had given us a good start, thats a definite psychological advantage.
    
"My form is also getting better since the second innings of the Sydney game. I have all along been seeing the ball well but the timing hasnt been all that great.
    
"I have never done well as an opener but its difficult to explain whats different from batting as an opener to number three," he said.
    
Dravid appeared to have a few words with the Australians in the field but he explained it had more to do with the hosts trying to speed up the over-rate.
    
"I was not frustrated. I was just trying to make my point. I needed a bit of time to settle in, but they were worried about the over-rate, which is fine but obviously you need to give batsmen a bit of time. It was fine, they slowed down a bit and gave us time," the former captain said.
    
Dravid was all praise for the Australians who played tough cricket throughout the day and he picked Brett Lee as the best performer for the hosts.
    
"Australia played it tough, like they usually do. They ran in hard right throughout the day. I thought Lee was the standout bowler of the day. He's improving all the time. Earlier, he had the pace but he is now also bowling in right areas," he added.