Virender's disappointment

Virender Sehwag said that he was not entirely satisfied with his career-best 147 on the first day of the opening Test against the West Indies at Mumbai. "I wanted to bat the whole day. I didn't want to get out. I wanted to start afresh tomorrow," said Sehwag, who was dismissed in the last session.

Sehwag was involved in a record 201-run opening stand with Sanjay Bangar. The partnership was India's highest for the opening wicket against the West Indies, beating the previous best of 153 between Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan on the same ground in 1978-79. It was also India's best here against all teams, surpassing 192 between Gavaskar and Chauhan against Australia in 1979-80.

"It is always good to score a hundred at the top of the order because it helps the team," said Sehwag. "I took some time to settle down because the pitch was slow. There was nothing in it for bowlers. Sanjay did well to keep his end intact. Their enthusiasm dropped as we didn't lose a wicket for two sessions."

Bangar said he was indebted to Sehwag for enabling him to score his second Test half-century in eight matches. "It's always a pleasure to watch him bat," said Bangar. "He takes the pressure off you with his attacking style. You are also tempted to play your shots, but you to have to control yourself."

Bangar added that while he had been content to play the anchor role, he was capable of more. "I can both attack and defend. There was no need to play shots from both the ends as he was playing so well. I've to perform every time I go into the middle because I've yet to establish myself in international cricket.

"But it'd have been better had my knock come in more testing conditions," he added. "The pitch became easier for batting after half an hour."