- Match report | Images
Wasim Jaffer summed it up perfectly when he said his unbeaten knock of 192 on Day 1 of the second Test against Pakistan ranks among his most fluent innings in Test cricket.
"I don't think I have batted so fluently so far in my Test career. I have not scored 192 runs in a day before, it was a fluent innings," he said in Kolkata on Friday.
The 29-year-old Mumbai opener pummeled the already-depleted Pakistan attack to submission with his magnificent knock that saw him smash 32 boundaries in 255 deliveries.
"I am very happy. Obviously, it is great to score a century against Pakistan. I will try tomorrow to reach 200 and whatever I can after that," he added.
India lost an early wicket in Dinesh Karthik (1) but Jaffer played some cracking shots on either side of the wicket to hand India back the initiative. He added 102 runs for the second wicket with Rahul Dravid (50) and followed it up with a 175-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar (82) as India made most of a good batting track on the first day.
Jaffer has already scored a double century in Tests, having made 212 in the West Indies in June last year, but refrained from comparing the two knocks.
"All the hundreds I scored have been special. I have got only a few, so I will count all of them as special. They all have been different innings. You can't compare any innings with anybody but it feels that on the first day we are in a strong position," he said.
The Mumbai batsman pointed out that Shoaib Akhtar's absence affected the visitors a great deal.
"Shoaib's absence did hurt them because he didn't bowl much on the first day. But then they tried their best and that is all I can from my point of view.
"Bowling is similar because they have played the same bowlers. As I said earlier, Shoaib is their strike key bowler and he getting unfit and not bowling much affected them a lot," he added.
Jaffer has often been accused of throwing his wicket when looking good for a big score. He reiterated that today he focused on not throwing his wicket once he crossed the half-century mark.
"I was conscious that I got a few starts in England but didn't convert them. Then I got a few good scores in the Ranji Trophy but could not convert them into a hundred, so obviously I was a bit conscious. I tried to be focused once I crossed 50-60; so I was a bit conscious to get to the triple figure mark," he said.
"I have gone through a lot of lean phases in my career, so I've been brought up like that. I had 2-3 comebacks in Indian cricket, then I went back to Ranji Trophy, made big scores and came back. It is just that I am not doing it so frequently in international cricket and I will try and do it from here on," he added.
He said being dropped from the Indian team taught him a lot.
"It hurts you, but it teaches you a lot about your shortcomings, where you are going wrong and where you need to work on your cricket."
Jaffer also sympathized with his opening partner Dinesh Karthik, who has been having a tough time in the series so far. Karthik fell for 1 in the second over of the match, his third failure in as many innings in this series.
"I do because I know what it feels when you fail. I empathize with all the people who don't score runs because I have gone through that and have been dropped from the Indian team. So I wish him luck for the future," he said.
If he scales the double-century mark on the second day, he will become the third batsman to do so at the historic Eden Gardens. But Jaffer says he won't lose sleep over it.
"Let me get the first run tomorrow and then I will think about that. There are lot of things in my mind..(smiles)"
