MAN-OF-THE-MATCH Gautam Gambhir said his goal of playing till at least the 40th over fuelled his century effort against Bangladesh on Saturday. "It was important for the first four batsmen to try and play till the 40th over and that's what I tried to do," the 25-year-old left-hander said.

"It feels good that I could do it. My first ODI century (against Sri Lanka) came in a match we lost. But today we won. Nothing feels better than scoring a century and being on the winning side." Asked if this performance would at last give him a longish run in the Indian team, Gambhir replied, "Playing any match for India is a dream, so I'll take it one match at a time. I'd rather not look too far ahead."

The innings saw Gambhir curb his stroke-playing instinct and brave cramps. "Like I said, I wanted to play a long innings and stay till the 40th over. Though I started cramping, I knew I had to stay on for the team's sake. Fortunately that's how it turned out." Indian captain Rahul Dravid said that he was happy with the win. "The past is past and we can't do anything about it, what matters is the future," Dravid said when reminded that it was India's first ODI win overseas in over a year (the last being in Pakistan in 2005-06). "It's good to win, irrespective of whether it is at home or abroad."

Dravid said that Gambhir's success in the opening slot would give selectors hope as well as options. "When someone puts in a match-winning performance the way Gautam did today, it opens up new opportunities for selectors," Dravid said.
India were confident of winning after scoring 284, Dravid said. "We knew Bangladesh would have to play exceptionally well to win." Gambhir apart, he praised the fast bowlers and spinners Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar, who bowled a tight line and length.

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