My 100th maroon cap was anything but joyful

We haven’t had a big discussion on our defeat in Mumbai till now and the players were left to reflect on their own shortcomings. The good thing is that the chairman of selectors Sir Vivian Richards, is around. I am sure the message would soon be out that nobody can take his place for granted in the team. Just being on tour doesn’t mean cricketers could get away with poor performances time and again. If replacements are to be found, I am sure Viv would not mind taking the tough route.

Zaheer built on my dismissal and picked up a few important wickets on the third afternoon. It left too huge a road to recovery to traverse for us. The left-arm paceman is bowling with confidence and seems to be carrying on his good form of Champions Trophy. Harbhajan picked up a big haul in the second innings and for two successive Tests against us, the off-spinner has done well. I have been told he complained about different balls in the West Indies which led to his inconsistent performance on the tour. But he only has to look at Muralitharan and Shane Warne to realise they are champion bowlers because they bowl in different conditions and with different balls without a dip in performance.

On a personal note, I felt grateful for the Indian cricket board to have honoured me on my 100th Test. I also received a fax of congratulation from the West Indies Board but it was not a big thing among us team-mates as we wanted it low key and concentrate on the first Test which is always so important in a short series of three games. We are up against it now but so were we when we trailed the Indians 1-0 in a home series not long ago. All of you must be aware what was the final outcome of the series. (Press Trust of India)