Sarwan pleased with strong return
Sarwan said the months spent outside the team had given him time to think of what he needed to do
Cricinfo staff
07-Apr-2008
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Ramnaresh Sarwan has made a convincing return to the West Indies side ten months after a shoulder injury forced him out of action. His second-innings century in Trinidad helped West Indies hold off a first-ever series defeat to Sri Lanka at home and won him the Player-of-the-Series award. Satisfied with his performance, Sarwan said the months spent outside the team had given him time to think of what he needed to do.
"I've been out for 10 months, players tend to mature around 26-27 and then it carries on till they are 33-34 and I hope that is going to be the case for me," Sarwan said. "I've certainly gained a lot of experience and I think I can use that."
West Indies were set to chase 253 by Sri Lanka and they lost only four wickets in knocking off the runs on day four. Sarwan added 157 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and fell when West Indies needed only 23 more to win. "After we lost Marlon [Samuels] I knew I had to form a good partnership with Shiv [Chanderpaul]. The good thing was that Shiv was flowing and I didn't have to do all the scoring, he was positive and that paid off for us.
"I've been getting off to good starts in this series, I wanted to do the same, pick the bad balls and fortunately I was able to do that and go on and get the hundred." Sarwan scored 311 at 77.75 in the two Tests.
Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, was pleased to have Sarwan back in the side. "Missing Sarwan really hurt us and it is good to have him back out there," Gayle said. "He showed how important he is at No. 3. It is good to have him back, he looked the part and I have to give him credit. I hope he can build on this and capitalise on his good starts and get those hundreds - big hundreds."