SINCE he first made his name as a tiny schoolboy, scoring prodigiously on the Maidaan in his home city of Bombay, Sachin Tendulkar has been recognised as a genius. He has scored more Test centuries, 35, than any other batsman; made more Test runs, 10,434, than any Indian; and more international runs from his combined efforts in Test and one-day matches, 24,580, than anyone of any nationality. But he is no longer India’s most valuable player.

Rahul Dravid, one year older at 33, started his Test career six years later but he has become the rock of the side he now captains, with a career average that has moved up to 58, three runs better. Today, while Tendulkar wins a 132nd Test cap to break Kapil Dev’s national record, Dravid plays what is officially his 100th Test, although only 99 have been for India. It was no surprise, perhaps, that he failed in both innings playing for the Rest of the World against Australia in Sydney in October because, like his team-mates, his heart was not really in the cause.

“Milestones and records come along the way. I just wanted to do my best and be successful for India,” he said after a dinner in his honour at the Cricket Club of India this week. It was one more accolade among many, accepted in the same graceful, thoughtful and composed manner in which he bats. Captaincy, as England’s bowlers have discovered, seems only to have made it even harder to get him out.

Tendulkar has had a quiet series, apart from a brief display of brilliance in the second innings in Nagpur, but Stephen Harmison’s absence when the third Test started at the Wankhede Stadium this morning only made it more likely that he would mark this occasion with something special. He was hit on the head when he played his first Test against Pakistan at the age of 16 but courage was never lacking, even if inches were. Recently, however, even with a helmet, he has, like Brian Lara, looked vulnerable when the ball is flying around his ears.

Not so Dravid, who either presents the full face of an impeccable bat to the same bouncers or sways inside the line like a tree in the wind, never taking his eyes off the ball. When, after consistent performances for Karnataka, he started his Test career at Lord’s in 1996, making 95 and sharing a stand of 94 with the other successful newcomer, Sourav Ganguly, the hallmarks of his batting were already evident. Patience and a watertight defence have served him well but he can press the accelerator when he needs to, driving, pulling and cutting with certainty, and he has moved to an even higher plateau since partnering V. V. S.Laxman in the fifth-wicket stand of 376 in Calcutta in 2001 that transformed the series against Australia.

Unusually for an Indian, he averages higher away from home than he does on his own pitches and the signs are that Dravid is capable now of leading them to the greater success in big series overseas that will make India, quite soon, the best side in the world. A draw or a victory here will move them ahead of England into second place behind Australia in the ICC table.

Already he has been the main reason for the growing number of significant victories abroad. In 2001-02, Dravid scored 144 not out against West Indies in Georgetown. India lost that series but in England the next summer he made 115 to save the Trent Bridge Test, followed by 148 in the win that squared the series at Headingley and 217 at the Oval.

Bowlers for Australia and Pakistan have felt the same impotence against his technical excellence and iron resolution. In 2003-04, he scored 233 and 72 not out in an extraordinary victory in Adelaide, then 270 in Rawalpindi to ensure the first win for India in a series against Pakistan.

He will never be so exciting a batsman to watch as Tendulkar, whose instinct is to attack where Dravid’s is to build a wall of safety inside which he can begin to express himself. But he has shown the same intelligence and consummate professionalism as both Tendulkar and Anil Kumble, the third pillar around which such a promising young team is being built. In all three men, too, there has been a dignity about the manner in which they maintained their stability and purpose despite heroworshippers who have swamped lesser men in waves of adulation.

Vinod Kambli, who scored a double-century when England last played a Test in Bombay, was one such. He lost little by comparison with Tendulkar when they shared their famous partnership of 664 at the respective ages of 16 and 14 for Sharadashram Vidyamandir School against St Xavier’s High School, but as Dravid and Tendulkar have proved, character counts as much as talent.

• Harmison is staying in India until after the Bombay Test before a decision is made on whether he should remain for the one-day internationals despite pain from stress in his right shinbone. Matthew Hoggard is likely to stay on as his replacement if necessary.