Captain courageous Rahul satisfied with his knock

Kingston, Jamaica, July 1 (UNI) After saving India the blushes with his gritty 215-ball 81 against some raw pace, captain courageous Rahul Dravid said he was satisfied after scoring in ''tough conditions''.

West Indies had the honours on day one of the fourth and final Test bowling out India for 200 in the first innings.

''This was one of the more challenging innings. It is very satisfying as well nice to score runs in such tough conditions,'' Dravid said after the match.

''It's a very challenging wicket. Ball is not coming on nicely and it was very difficult to play strokes on it,'' he added.

While the Indian captain did not look flattered with the wicket, his West Indian counterpart Brian Lara felt the pitch was a 'batting feast' after first 15-20 overs and praised his bowlers for bowling India out for 200.

''I would say it was a great effort, Herculean effort on such a pitch from our bowlers to get them out for 200. This is a pitch where you see off the new ball and the first 15-20 overs and then it is a batting feast,'' Lara said.

Lara said Dravid played a crucial knock but it in fact helped his team's cause.

''We all know what he is capable of. He was keeping the run rate where we wanted. Of course we wanted his wicket. But he allowed to slow down the run rate and the things panned out the way we wanted,'' said Lara.

Dravid felt his team has a fighting chance and it is very important to bowl good in the first innings.

''We are not happy with the score but it is a score to fight with. If we restrict them to a small lead, we have advantage of batting third and then put them under pressure in the last innings,'' he said.

Dravid also said that Anil Kumble's fighting knock of 45 showed some of his batsmen how to bat in the longer version of game.

''Anil is always fighting. It sets great example and shows lots of people in the dressing room what batting in Test cricket is all about,'' the Indian skipper said.

He also defended his decision of going with two spinners and two pacers and batting first after winning toss.

''Pitch is dry and might help the spinners. We pick the team that gives us best chance of getting result. Batting first was a correct decision. There was some juice but you would like the juice to dry out. It's a slow wicket where spinners would come into play. Ball is keeping up and low. We have got two quality spinners, we have to rotate them around,'' Dravid said.

Lara said that his tam was in excellent position to win this match and the series now.

''We want to bat as long as possible maybe two days of batting we aim at. We have set the game way we wanted. Now we want to bat first bat all of today and tomorrow to be in strong position,'' Lara said.

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