'I was happy Kumble
wasn't around'

West Indies skipper Carl Hooper
looks back on the fourth Test

Once again in this Test match I had a big stand with Shivnarine Chanderpaul. We already have two double hundred stands in the series and this was nearly as big. I must surprise every one here by saying I am not exactly comfortable batting with Chanderpaul.

Chanderpaul doesn't call loudly when we run between the wickets. We are also two totally different players with different strengths. But for some reason or other, we have a good chemistry together. We encourage each other and even before this series, we had big partnerships between ourselves.

He is in wonderful form at present. I have never seen him bat any better during his career. It is also rubbing off on me. Hope we can continue.

A lot of things have been said about Chanderpaul's slow batting on the last day. The usual stuff about playing for the paying public and all is being said. I am not in Chanderpaul's shoes and I don't want to pull him up about his way to bat.

The aim was to bat the day if we could. At the same time, if I was in Chanderpaul's shoes, what I would have tried to do, was to get as many runs as possible. I reckon he could have easily made a double hundred.

But that's the way Chanderpaul plays. He protects his wicket fiercely, and he wouldn't give it up for anything. I think he said to me at lunch time they were bowling in the rough which made it difficult for him to score. But he would have learnt something from it. I think the first thing this morning [Tuesday] he wanted was to bat through the day and that's what he did.

I now have three centuries from the series, including a double, and people are pointing out I was lucky in all those three knocks. I was dropped first ball in Guyana and went on to score 233. Then in Barbados, I survived a run-out appeal to crack 115. In this Test, I was caught at forward short leg off a no-ball.

I don't think it is luck. I think it is just my time. I have done a lot of hard work behind the scene to get to where I am today. If you care, I can give you numerous occasions when I was not out and was given out on a critical decision.

I pray a lot and stuff like that, I back myself and I believe only good things can happen to me. That's why perhaps a lot of positive things are happening when I am away playing. I believe I would do well and I don't worry about getting out and having a bad decision. As a result of this I think you create your own luck. You create your own atmosphere in which to prosper.

Let me say, we would really have been pushed hard to save this Test if Anil Kumble had been fit. If he was there, not that we would have lost the Test, but I reckon it would have gone all the way to the wire.

Just watching Kumble bowl those 14 overs you realised he would have been handful. The bounce was inconsistent, the pace was inconsistent and he is fairly accurate. I don't think the batting would have gone any easier on the fourth or fifth day.

I don't want to feel happy for his injury and obviously I wish him a speedy recovery. But I was happy he wasn't around. I am not thanking Mervyn Dillon for causing that injury. I hate to see anybody get injured but I was glad Kumble was missing.

I was even surprised that the Indians didn't give him a few overs before the new ball on the fourth day. But he must have been in severe pain not to come back, besides I believe his flight timings didn't give that opportunity to the Indians.

You don't see everyday a cricketer come on to the field with a broken jaw and the closest to this I have seen is Malcolm Marshall bowling with a broken arm.

I couldn't really make up my mind if Brian Lara got a good leg before decision against Kumble. I never really looked at the replay but I asked Roger (coach Roger Harper) whether Brian was out or not and he said it looked good. Roger normally looks at decisions over and over again. If he says it is good, it is good enough for me.

We haven't seen the best of Brian in this series, or for that matter Sachin Tendulkar, but I am confident he would come good in Sabina Park. He would fire because he is a big match player.

I think if Brian and Sachin are going to fire; it is going to be a fitting finale to a well-contested series. We have a big Test match in Jamaica and I get the feeling, judging with the wicket we had last year, it would produce a result.

Finally, about the little man-of-the-match Ajay Ratra. He has been a big plus for India in this game. For the last two series I think the Indian selectors have been haggling with Deep Dasgupta. Dasgupta, obviously, is not as good a wicketkeeper as Ratra but he is rated a better bat.

But Ratra showed here he has it in him to bat well. He had not done well in two previous Tests and he said at the presentation ceremony, he was under some pressure to come good. He did and that too in the form of a hundred. It was the first chance we had to see him bat. Now we know what he is capable of. We would be better prepared for him in Jamaica.

Also read:
- Jacobs dedicates century to his mother
- Antigua Test ends in a tame draw
- Windies beginning to peak: coach Harper
- 'Not disheartened. It's part of the game': Kumble

Mail Cricket Editor