'My 281 altered the cricket world's perception of India'

That knock gave me the confidence that what I was doing in domestic cricket, I could do at the international level as well. Equally important, it changed our mindset as a team. It instilled in us the belief that we must never give up. If 167 changed the way I viewed cricket, 281 altered the cricket world's perception of India. To have played my part in that process, and to have scored consistently heavily against the best bowling attack of my time, against the best team of that era, is a memory I will cherish forever. During my career, the team was to be in such situations many times later, including in Adelaide in 2003-04. We remembered what happened in Kolkata, and the rest, as they say, is history.