Left-arm bowler Irfan Pathan justified the faith of his captain, coach and teammates on Sunday by becoming the first man to take a hat trick in the opening over of a Test.
Pathan, 21, who finished with five wickets on the first day of the third Test against Pakistan, said he had felt under some pressure after taking just two wickets in the first two drawn Tests.
"After the first two Tests were played on flat wickets, I was thinking this pitch will do a bit. And the ball did seam around quite a bit," he told a news conference.
"My teammates and my captain (Rahul Dravid) and coach (Greg Chappell) supported me a lot. They said don't think negatively just bowl with rhythm and I just did that."
"I was delighted to get the three wickets in my first over but I didn't plan for the hat-trick ball. I just bowled a normal delivery and tried to get it stump to stump.
"I am very happy. It is like a dream come true for me. First day of a Test, first over it does not get better then this."
Pathan took five for 61 as Pakistan were dismissed for 245, a total made possible through a battling 113 from wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal. India were 74 for four in reply at the close.
"Akmal played very well and it was a bit easy after the ball got old. But his was a brilliant innings. We are worried that we have lost four wickets in reply," he said.
Pathan said India needed just one good partnership to control the game.
"If we can get one good stand then we can take a first innings lead which is important on this pitch."
Akmal, who scored his fourth hundred and his third against India, said he had dedicated his innings to his parents who had always prayed for his success.
"It was a very important knock for my team. I came into the match under pressure but my captain told me just play positively and I did that. But I think it was an outstanding spell from Pathan with the new ball."
Akmal felt the ball would continue to seam around on all five days of the test and batting would be a challenge in both innings.
"It is too early to say who will win the Test but we still need to do a lot. Because you can get runs on it if you play with patience," he said.
