South Zone opener Lokesh Rahul, who scored his second century in the ongoing Duleep Trophy cricket final against Central, said that his patience and focus paid off for him on a slower wicket at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Saturday.
"Today's wicket was slower and harder to bat as compared to the second day. It was a two-paced wicket with the odd balls staying low. But once you are set, you can play your shots and get good value out of them as the outfield here is also quite good. So, I played my shots and each of them came off well," Lokesh told reporters.
Lokesh made an unbeaten 121 of 132 balls to help South stay only 117 runs away from winning the final against Central Zone, who rode on Robin Bist's unbeaten 112 to set a challenging 301-run target for the southern side. But Lokesh's knock, comprisingfive sixes and 12 fours, flattened the Central bowlers.
"I edged and missed couple of balls initially. But, I kept my focus and concentrated more to get it going. I didn't become complacent and thought that my first innings knock of 185 is gone. I tried to score as many runs as I can for my team. And these things helped me a lot during today's innings," he said.
But the 22-year-old refused to rate the two knocks. "My focus is on tomorrow's game. I have a target to achieve. I need to again go out there and help the team win the title."
Askes if he was expecting a national call, Rahul said: "I have nothing to say about the selection. Three days is a long time and you wouldn't know what will happen."
