England opener Alastair Cook, who hit an unbeaten 104 in the second innings of the first Test against India on Saturday, was lost for words when asked how it felt to score a century on debut.
"To be frank, I am very delighted. I thought it's a hundred... and I don't know. Words can't describe what I feel at the moment," said Cook, at the end of play on day 4.
The 21-year-old followed up on his 60 in the first innings to become only the 16th English batsman to score a century in his debut Test.
His brilliant batting put England in a commanding position at 297 for 3, an overall lead of 367 runs, with a full day in hand.
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He showed tremendous application against the spinners, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, and was lucky time and again as the Indian fielders dropped simple catches.
"You need a bit of luck and you got to make most of it. I am lucky it was my day and I made the most of it," said the youngster.
Cook was involved in a 125-run partnership for the third wicket with Kevin Pietersen, who cracked 87 from 110 balls, inclusive of 14 boundaries and a six.
"Pietersen played a fantastic knock and took all the pressure off me. In the end, I didn't really have to worry about scoring; just had to rotate the strike. I just had to make sure that he had the strike," he added.
The left-hander faced 90 balls from Kumble bowling round the wicket in the rough, while from the other end he had to negotiate 101 deliveries from Harbhajan, who turned it the other way. But he came good, scoring 41 and 40 runs off the two spinners.
"It was tricky with Kumble bowling into the rough and Harbhajan bowling well. My job was to hang in there till the end, and our aim was to score at over four an over in the last ten to 15 overs," Cook said.
He said the wicket did not afford as much turn as expected, but there are signs of it doing so.
"The wicket has not spun, as we thought it would, but the signs are there. If you bowl in the rough there is some turn.
"You never know; it's a fifth day wicket. We will give it our best shot and we will be all fired up."
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