This is a very special hundred for me as it saved the game for India, India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said after scoring 115 in the second innings of the first Test against New Zealand here today.
Harbhajan produced a match-saving maiden Test century, and along with VVS Laxman, steered India to safety as the first cricket Test against New Zealand ended in a draw.
"I am happy to score the first 100. Now, I know how it feels to get a century," Harbhajan told reporters in the post-match press conference.
Giving credit to Laxman for helping him get to his century, Harbhajan said, "If he was not on the other side, things could have been different."
"Laxaman was the "sankatmochan" (saviour) of the match and I was just supporting him," Harbhajan added.
"He was all the time advising me during the 163-run stand for the seventh wicket and that helped a lot, Harbhajan said.
The off-spinner dedicated the century to his father and teammates Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and skipper MS Dhoni.
He further said that he never thought of scoring so many runs for India in a Test match and it was very special receiving the Man-of-the-Match award for scoring runs rather than taking wickets.
Harbhajan said he did not receive instructions from the Indian dressing room during the match but, before the start of the day's play, coach Gary Kirsten had told him to play his natural game and be careful in picking the shots.
It was important that India batted the first session of the day without losing a wicket, and once they managed to do that, it set the tempo for them.
Though he was delighted to have received the Man-of-the-Match award, Harbhajan felt that Chris Martin deserved it for taking five wickets on such a flat pitch.
He also praised young debutante New Zealand batsman Kane Williams and said that he was a promising cricketer and has shown good temperament.
In a reply to a question on the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS), Harbhajan said that he was not against it and would not mind if that system came into play.
