I fought my way back to score runs: Dravid

Perth, January 16: More than missing a century, it is the timing of his dismissal which rankles Rahul Dravid who wanted to carry on batting to tackle the second new ball on the opening day of the third cricket Test between India and Australia.

Dravid, who struck form after struggling in the first two Tests, negotiated the Australian pace attack well to notch up a well-knit 93 before succumbing to a big hit off Andrew Symonds.

"It's disappointing to get out at that stage, especially the timing was not good. In the last half hour me and Laxman were trying to be there when the new ball was taken," Dravid said.

The former captain, however, drew some satisfaction from the fact that he played a good knock after a lot of hard work.

"I am happy with my effort. I had worked hard and fought my way back to score the runs. But it's not about me (missing out on a hundred), but the team situation," he said.

Dravid said the team think-tank was never in any confusion about what to do if India won the toss.

"We were very clear about batting first on this wicket. Yesterday, we saw the wicket and knew the first couple of hours would be crucial. But it is a good wicket, a flat and firm one. We had no real second thought.”