Ajinkya Rahane termed his knock of 188 as a "special one" which will be etched in his memory for a long time to come.
Rahane, who added 365 runs with skipper Virat Kohli, is happy that he was able to play the short ball well even after struggling during the first session.
"This innings was really special and the partnership too (with captain Virat Kohli). We were 100 for 3 and from there getting 365 is really special," said Rahane, whose surpassed his highest Test score of 147 against Australia at Sydney in January of 2015.
Rahane admitted that humidity did play a part during the two days. "It was hot out there today. I was struggling yesterday against the short ball and Virat told me to take my time. Today I wanted to dominate after getting the hundred. This partnership will stay in memory for a long time," an elated Rahane said. "I take credit for the way I handled things yesterday when they were bowling short and I rate this 100 up there," said the soft-spoken Mumbaikar.
He said that on Saturday the fourth wicket pair talked mainly about cricket in the middle but on Sunday they wanted to have fun with it being hot in the middle. "We were talking about partnership yesterday but today it was hot and humid. We did not discuss too much about cricket. We wanted to have fun. The partnership was very crucial and we had decided to attack after getting our hundreds. We wanted their fast bowlers to bowl so that we could attack. In this innings, I struggled but it's important to enjoy and tackle it which is what counts. As a batsman it's important to face the next ball calmly after being beaten. This showed me what Test cricket is all about. I needed 200 to 230 balls to reach my 100." "Today I was really happy they were bowling short balls as I knew they will give me runs. Yesterday, I struggled but today it was different. Once I got my hundred with Jeetan Patel and Santner came on to bowl, I wanted to play my normal cricket shots. Virat came up to me and told me yesterday not to worry even though I was struggling. He was bating so well and fluently. He said it does not matter whether you are getting hit. Tomorrow if you are there you will dominate."
He had initial problems against short-pitched deliveries but Rahane said that he has no shame in admitting it.
"My approach was good. I struggled but it's no shame to struggle. How you overcome it is important," he added. Rahane said the aim of the Indian team was to bat on for long and tire the New Zealanders out.
Kohli killed us softly: nz coach
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said Virat Kohli "softly killed" them as the Indian captain combined with Ajinkya Rahane to torment the Kiwis bowlers in the third Test, here on Sunday. "(It was) high quality batting, took a good delivery to create half chances. Went through long periods of play where we reeled out a lot of plans, stuck to our game well, but we were worn down. Kohli killed us softly, is the nicest way of describing it, after scoring about 120 singles," said Hesson.
However, he also looked at the positive side and said his team had stuck to the task well. "A tough day but, sounds funny, also a satisfying day in terms of the standards we set. Our seam bowlers delivering 30 overs, 135-140kmph at times, in heat and humidity. At no stage did we roll over and give soft runs. I thought it was a high quality Test cricket. We contributed to that with our bowling. When you go over a 100 overs without a wicket it can be demoralising. If you're not strong willed and keep fighting it can be tough, but we did that pretty well," he said.
He said the third day was crucial and the onus was on the top seven batsmen who have seen how to tackle the track by Kohli and Rahane.
"We just have to bat for long periods of time. Each batsman has his own game plan and it is a matter of being very decisive around that. It is not quite as sharp a turn at the moment as perhaps in Kanpur but we know that will change over time. We have a very good blueprint of how to bat of that surface. Our challenge tomorrow is to try and replicate something similar."