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 | |  Sunday, 12 May, 2002, 06:25 GMT 07:25 UK Laxman thrilled with ton  Laxman has been in good form throughout the series VVS Laxman admits he fulfilled a childhood dream by scoring a Test century in the West Indies.
The 27-year-old batsman stroked an unbeaten 124 on Saturday to take India to 462 for six on the second day of the fourth Test. Laxman shared in a record 205-run unbroken stand for the seventh wicket with Ajay Ratra, who finished on 93 not out. "It was always my dream to score a hundred in the West Indies," Laxman said. "I'm really thrilled that I achieved it."
It was his third Test century, following his 167 in Sydney two years ago and an Indian record 281 in Calcutta last year to transform the series against Australia. "Any century is very important," Laxman said. "This is my third and luckily all of them have been good." India were struggling at 257 for six, having lost three wickets for 24 runs, when Laxman and wicketkeeper Ratra came together and the pair batted through the day. It was Laxman's fourth score in excess of 50 in the series. He struck 69 in the first drawn Test in Georgetown before half-centuries in both innings in Trinidad clinched the man-of-the-match award in India's first win in the Caribbean for 26 years. "I thought right from the start of the tour I was batting well," Laxman added.
"It was just a matter of time. Once I was set, I thought I wouldn't throw it away this time. "The first two Test matches I was disappointed getting out after crossing 50, but those innings gave me confidence that I'll get a big score." Laxman also paid tribute to Ratra, the 20-year-old wicketkeeper who started his Test career with scores of 0, 2, 1 and 13. But he responded with a gutsy knock under pressure to silence his critics. "I have played with and against Ajay in domestic cricket for the last two years and I knew that he has tremendous talent," Laxman added. Determination "At the same time he's very gutsy and very confident. So I had a lot of confidence in his ability to score. "He played a very determined knock. He not only held up an end but played positive cricket, which was impressive." India now hope to post a huge final total and bowl the West Indies out twice. "We need to take a big first innings lead and put a lot of pressure on them," Laxman added. "The think-tank will meet and work out a strategy for tomorrow." | |
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