By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
IANS
Dhaka : India's Dinesh Karthik, who scored his maiden century in the second Test against Bangladesh here Saturday, said he was trying to "transform my batting" from limited overs game to demands of the five-day cricket.
"I try to be as consistent as possible. And that can be done if I work a lot on my batting in terms of footwork, in terms of mindset. And I am always trying to do that," Karthik told reporters after scoring 129 in India's total of 610 for three declared.
"I am trying to transform my batting from one day cricket to Test cricket, and that is very important. I am happy at the way things are going," said the Tamil
Nadu wicket-keeper, who is playing here as a specialist batsman.
Karthik's opening partner Wasim Jaffer, Sachin Tendulkar and captain Rahul Dravid also cracked tons and then the bowlers reduced Bangladesh to 58 for five on the second day to give India firm control over the match.
Karthik disclosed that he was running temperature since Friday night and even had cramps.
"It was tough because conditions were really hard and I was running a bit of temperature. I could feel the cramps in my hamstring," he said, adding that due to his fever his wife Nikita kept awake Friday night. On Saturday, she was at the ground to watch him complete his century.
"I told myself to keep playing as I was very close to my hundred. It is important as it is my first hundred and I am happy about it."
Karthik said that the ball was not coming on to the bat easily.
"And because of that there were some on-the-rise shots or pull shots. Three times I got three pull shots and I got out (playing that shot) because there was lack of pace in the wicket. I played the ball much earlier than I should have," he said of his mistimed pull that ended his 212-ball knock.
Karthik, however, declined to say if India would win the match inside three days.
"I wouldn't like to comment on that because they are also a good team. I am sure they are going to try their best tomorrow; put their best foot forward," he said.
"What we would like to do is bowl to a good line and length, as we did today. Then take it from there."
Karthik was happy opening the innings with Jaffer.
"If we can be consistent it will be very good. We have been putting up partnerships. And if we can continue this, I think it will help the team," he said.