For a couple of hours Marlon Samuels looked like he could take the game away from India, smashing a few delightful boundaries on his way to top scoring for the West Indies in an otherwise forgettable first innings in the first Test at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
The West Indies all-rounder, who was dismissed by a brilliant in-swinger from Mohammed Shami -- one of four wickets that the debutant would take on an impressive first day -- was doubly disappointed not to get to his hundred, when he looked primed to get to the three-figure mark, due to the fact that this will be one of the final few opportunities of making a mark in front of his idol Sachin Tendulkar, who calls it a day after the second Test in Mumbai.
"I was very disappointed, mainly because Sachin was on the field and I couldn't get yet another hundred in front of him," Samuels, who made his first hundred here in Kolkata way back in 2002, told BCCI's official website.
"He is the greatest cricketer to have ever played cricket and my idol. I am shattered to have missed out on scoring a century today. I am sure he is enjoying himself right now but we will try to get him out early.
"I don't mind him scoring a little 20 (smiles cheekily). We don't have plenty of runs on the board and we have to play very hard from here."
Runs on the board was something that West Indies definitely missed out on, losing eight wickets in a hurry as the visitors went from 138 for two to 234 all out.
The game seemed to change on its head when the ball, not doing too much until then, was changed in about the 40th over, immediately bringing with it the dangers of reverse swing, which Shami exploited to the hilt.
Samuels, who made 65 from 98 balls, was obviously not too amused by the extent to which the change of ball went in India's favour.
"I pushed a couple of balls with confidence before that and didn't know what to expect when the ball had been changed," Samuels said. "As soon as the ball was changed, it was literally, a different ball-game after that."
Having said that, though, the West Indies also had themselves to blame with Darren Bravo, who put on 91 runs with Samuels for the highest partnership of the innings, running himself out for no reason, while skipper Darren Sammy threw his wicket away with an ill-advised shot.
Samuels rued the fact that no-one could stay at the other end with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who looked good during his 79-ball 36-run stay.
"We lost too many wickets in the second session," Samuels added. "After the first two wickets fell we needed somebody to stay in there and build a partnership with Shiv to take us through to the end of day. But we lost five wickets in the second session which were far too many."
