England pace bowler Chris Tremlett rated the wicket of Indian skipper Rahul Dravid as his most cherished one so far.
"Dravid is a great player. I got him out in the second innings at Lord's, which was great for me. I think that is my biggest wicket so far," the 6"7 fast bowler said.
Tremlett said too much could not be read into the patchy performance of the big four in the Indian batting line-up. "They are obviously great players. They didn't score many runs in the first Test. It would be stupid to say they are losing their touch. I played in the Lions game and Sachin made a 100 there, and he looked class. He didn't get many in this game. He still looks a very good player. I don't think they are losing it. The conditions were quite hard for batting and the ball swung around,” he said.
Picking Tremlett ahead of Stuart Broad had taken many by surprise, and the pacer admitted that even he was shocked to hear the news of his selection. "I was a bit shocked to play. The week before, I was playing County cricket and then I got a call for the Lions match, which was a great honour. Then, to hear the news that I was called up for Lord's was great for me. I thought I was there just as back-up but I went there and practised hard, made a bit of an impression and got the call, which I was delighted with," he said.
Donald’s tips
Subsequently, Tremlett delighted the team management with a gritty performance, and the strapping paceman credited bowling coach Allan Donald for the impressive show.
"In terms of my bowling, I've had Bruce Reid’s help over the last couple of years and Allan Donald this week. Donald and I had a chat before the Test and he said express yourself, be aggressive, get in their faces, but also don't do things you don't normally do. For me to go out there and start taunting batsman is not something I would normally do, and it would come across as being unnatural," he said.
"But he told to make sure you've got that aggressive intent. The Indian guys might have a bit of a reputation for not liking the ball swinging and nipping around as much as other teams," he added.
The Hampshire paceman said Australian spin wizard Shane Warne too helped him develop as bowler.
"I've been working with Warney for the last three years and I've learnt a lot from him. He said take a look at yourself and where you want to go from here. My goal was to get in the England side and prove I'm a good bowler and a good cricketer. I think I am on course for that," he said.
On the first drawn first Test at Lord's, Tremlett said, "We were disappointed because we worked really hard over five long days. It was a great team effort with the ball and bat and to get so close was so frustrating. We said in the team meeting that we have to go with the same intensity on Friday and try and go one nil up."