DRAVID AT LORD’S

Rahul Dravid, a former India captain and centurion in the first innings, spoke to the media at Lord’s rather late on Saturday. Here goes...

“When runs don’t come, you start to question yourself... There have been stages when I’ve doubted myself, but that’s just natural, being a professional sportsman...

“In the tough times, you’ve got to enjoy what you do and to try and get better...

“The (recent) tour of the West Indies gave me a lot of confidence, getting runs in Jamaica and Barbados, which had pretty challenging wickets...

“I would say this has been one of my best hundreds in the past three-four years, though the one in Jamaica (112 in the second innings) was very special as well...

“There are lots of grounds where I haven’t got a Test hundred... It’s not that if I hadn’t got this one, it would’ve been the end of the world...

“Some great names are on the honours board at Lord’s and it’s the most talked about by the international players... It’s just nice to be on it...

“I don’t look at numbers (becoming the second-highest run getter in Test cricket), I’ve played a lot... A lot of people before me didn’t get the same chance... It’s about longevity and playing these knocks...

“The talk often is about Sachin (Tendulkar)... He’s a legend and, on 99 International hundreds, it was set up for him... He still has one innings left... He was batting well, so there’s a big knock coming from him...

“In some ways it (the attention on Sachin) suits me. The pressure is on him a lot of the times and I can slip by and get on with my business...

“I love playing in England, where Test cricket is supported so terrifically... There can be no better place to play...

“Three of us (Sachin and V.V.S. Laxman being the others) now have a total of 100 Test hundreds... It has been an honour to play with them for 15 years... I have some great memories of the partnerships we’ve had...

“Hopefully, it’s a good omen (that India have lost only one Test where he’s got a hundred)... Hopefully, we can fight back... We’ve fought back well in the last two-three years.”