Nagpur, Feb. 8: It took S. Badrinath 10 years of toil on the domestic scene, 22 hundreds and stages in life where he had to fight self-doubt before arriving on the Test scene. Having earned his right to Test cricket the hard way, the Tamil Nadu batsman was not going to let the chance go by easily. The situation was shaky, the bowling close to hostile but Badri does what he does best — hang in.

“It was exciting and it did not take time to realise that it was going to be tough. They were quality fast bowlers but once I started middling the ball, it felt a lot better,” said Badri. Vice-captain Virender Sehwag noted that Badri had fought hard in his first Test innings and kept telling him to enjoy his cricket.

Badri agreed that there was pressure on him when he walked out to bat and all the years of waiting in the fringes were running through his mind. “My experience told me to concentrate on the job ahead. I was digesting the fact that I was playing Test cricket and I was training my mind on what to do. Yes there was pressure but I did not let that affect my game,” said Badri.

A lot will depend on how far M. Vijay and Sachin Tendulkar can carry their partnership and also Badri. Sehwag was hopeful of a fightback. “We will try hard and hopefully save the match. Sachin is there and Vijay is also playing really well. We have done it in the past against Australia. Sachin is vastly experienced. Hopefully he will get us out of trouble,” said Sehwag.

Both Badri and Sehwag, who had spent substantial time in the middle, said the wicket will only get harder to bat on. “As a batsman one needs a lot of patience on this wicket. It has started assisting spinners and the dismissal of Dhoni was an example. One needs to wait for the bad ball,” said Badri, who added that the rate at which Sehwag scored made his job easier.

The shot selection of the lower order left much to be desired and if India have to put up an improved show in the second innings, there has to be lot more discipline in batting.

“All of us are upset at the way we batted. It was not the kind of wicket where you should be bowled out so cheaply. We should have had one or two more partnerships,” added Sehwag.

Dale Steyn wreaked havoc and the centurion was only happy to give the fast bowler his due. “He really bowled well. The wickets of Sachin and Vijay in the first innings in particular, where he got one to come in another to move away. He also used reverse swing well after the ball was changed after the old one had gone soft,” explained Sehwag. The Delhi dasher who was hit on the ribs by Morne Morkel also confirmed there was no cause for worry and he was all right.