Debutant Australian off spinner Jason Krejza had two catches of Sachin Tendulkar dropped off his bowling on his first day of Test cricket, but sounded pleased overall with his end-of-the-day haul of three wickets in the fourth and final Test against India in Nagpur on Thursday.
"It was good to have a chance to bowl. Initially I had a bout of nerves but kept it down. I have been here for six weeks (as part of the visiting team) and was prepared to play," he said.
"It was an enjoyable to get a couple of wickets. I couldn't have asked for more," said the bowler who became a spinner after a stress fracture put paid to his hopes of bowling fast when he was 13.
Tendulkar was dropped at deep mid off when on 85 and 96 off Krejza before the Indian master batsman completed his 40th Test ton (109) on the first day of the series decider.
Krejza, preferred in the team in place of pacer Stuart Clark to take advantage of the track at the newly built VCA stadium that is already aiding spin, said he was prepared for the assault he faced from the Indian batsmen, especially Virender Sehwag, when he came on to bowl.
"I expected them to come after me in the first over itself. Once I got over it I managed to keep my head on my shoulders," said the Tasmanian player, who ended the first day with figures of 3 for 138 in an Indian score of 311 for five.
Krejza said he took advantage of some footmarks while ending up with a three-wicket haul.
"It's a difficult pitch. Initially it was difficult to bowl on but there were a couple of footmarks that helped me. Still I had to be patient. There's some spin and bounce (on the wicket)," said the player who has also played rugby.
