India, choosing to bat first after winning the toss, were dismissed for 200 just before the close. While wickets fell at regular intervals, Dravid defiantly resisted the West Indies attack with an innings of 81 that lasted more than five-and-a-half hours.
"It was one of the most challenging innings I've played and very satisfying as well. In conditions like that, you've got to fight hard for runs," Dravid told reporters after stumps.
"It was just a pity that I got out at the end of the day. When I look back on this one, it will give me a lot of satisfaction."
It was a modest total by India, but it represented a recovery after they were struggling on 91 for six just before tea. Most of the damage was caused by fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who took career-best figures of five for 50.
"It's probably a score which we can fight with, but we've got to bowl well. It's not a score we're happy with, there is no doubt about it, but it's a score to fight with," Dravid said.
"At 91 for six, we fought back well. We've got something on the board. It's just important how well we bowl now.
"If we bowl well and can restrict West Indies to a decent score, we have the advantage of batting third and forcing West Indies to chase a target."
The pitch offered more assistance than the surfaces used in the previous two Tests, offering the West Indies pacemen plenty of bounce, but Dravid said it was lacking in pace.
"It was a strange sort of wicket. Normally on wickets that seam, you can play a few shots because the ball comes on to the bat. But the ball just did not seem to come on to the bat in the morning. There was no real pace off the wicket," Dravid said.
