Illingworth took flak for White's selection in 1994

If White manages, despite Ahmedabad's alcohol ban, to find a glass of something with which to celebrate his maiden Test century, I do hope that he toasts Ray Illingworth who, as coach, first recognised White's talent.

Illy took some flak at the time with unkind suggestions being made that it was merely one Yorkshireman blindly selecting another.

This also affected White's confidence and, being a quiet, shy man, he floundered until Duncan Fletcher and Nasser Hussain awarded him a central contract 18 months ago.

His 93 in Pakistan last winter was beaten in fine style and this might very well be the springboard for a consistent and successful international career.

Deep disappointment

Mind you, he was helped along the way as India seemed to find England's habit of fluffing chances contagious.

The wicketkeeper, Dasgupta, must now realise that success in one match can very easily be followed by failure in the next.

Dasgupta endured a torrid day

His century at Mohali captured all the headlines, but he missed a stumping when White was on 44 and dropped a straightforward catch 19 runs later.

Kumble also made a terrible mess of a catch at deep square leg off the toiling Srinath, who saw two of those chances go down in one over.

In between, though, White drove crisply and the highlight of his innings was a towering six off Harbhajan who, in taking just one wicket to Kumble's seven, was also brought down to earth.

Hussain will also have taken heart from Ashley Giles' first serious bowl in months. The spinner felt his way through his opening overs, but tempted Dasgupta to top-edge a sweep.

If England are to break through the middle order, one feels that it will be the spinners - and Giles, in particular - who take the wickets.

However, the pitch is still playing well and showing few signs of breaking up which makes a draw the most likely outcome.