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'I had prepared myself for this. I was getting dismissed (after half-centuries) so my plan was to play as much as I can with the straight bat and keep it simple after reaching fifty.'
Danish Malewar was delighted to have rewritten the season's script of him not converting fifties into hundreds in an important occasion like the Ranji Trophy final, and the Vidarbha batter said the change was brought about by his diligent preparation ahead of the title clash against Kerala.
Vidarbha were under pressure as they slipped to 24/3 but Malewar hit an unbeaten 138 (259 balls, 14x4s, 2x6s) and added 215 runs with Karun Nair (86) for the fourth wicket, lifting the hosts to 254/4 at stumps in Nagpur on Wednesday.
“I had not gone in thinking about making a hundred. Initially we had lost wickets, the bowlers were getting help (from the pitch) and the ball was seaming,” Malewar told the media after the first day's play.
Malewar said he was determined to score a big knock in the final after making five fifties and one hundred in his debut season.
“Yes, since it was a big game. I had prepared myself for this. I was getting dismissed (after half-centuries) so my plan was to play as much as I can with the straight bat and keep it simple after reaching fifty,” he said.
There was a curious moment during his knock as Malewar celebrated his hundred in an ears-shut pose a la India batter KL Rahul.
The 21-year-old explained the reason behind it.
“Nothing much about it… KL Rahul is my idol, he also celebrates like this. I do not know the reason behind this but I have been celebrating this since (age of) 19,” he said.
“When I close my ears, it's about peace, to not let the outside noise come in… people can say anything. It was for them," he added.
Talking about his fourth-wicket partnership with Nair, Malewar said the plan was to play with patience.
"We wanted to keep it simple, not play too many shots but play with the patience of the bowlers. He (Nair) keeps helping, guiding in being patient, especially when there has been a lapse in concentration,” he said.
While Malewar and Nair had a robust stand that helped Vidarbha stage a strong recovery, their partnership was broken following a mix-up and the young batter admitted that it did give Kerala some advantage.
“The run-out was unfortunate, you cannot say who was at fault in it. Had that not happened, we would've been in an even better position because they got a wicket of a set batter at the day's end,” he said.