After all, it was the Trinidadian pacer who cut Sachin Tendulkar’s march towards a 100th century short, and while Rampaul did appear a bit sheepish, he wasn’t going to be apologetic for doing his job.

“I got that as soon as Sachin got out,” Rampaul told newsmen when asked if he realised he was the villain of the piece. “When I walked back to the boundary, it wasn’t all that nice, I got heckled in a way. That’s how cricket goes. I know a lot of fans are down and heart-broken. But we can’t just let him get out there and live freely. We have our job to do, such as he has his job to do. It’s part of cricket. (But) I will be at my hotel this evening, no going out for me!”

Rampaul revealed that he and Ottis Gibson had formulated a plan for Tendulkar before start of play. “The coach and I were chatting a little bit while warming up about how we are going to bowl at him. Basically, it was to get close to the wicket and angle the ball away from him.

So said so done; he nicked it and it was a good feeling.

“That ball bounced a lot. He was batting out of his crease trying to get the ball a little fuller.

I realised that and pulled back my length a little bit. It was just the right ball at the right time,” he smiled.

The West Indians all lined up to shake R Ashwin’s hand after the offie made his century, and Rampaul was generous in praise. “Ashwin came out and assessed the wicket and batted to the conditions, and Virat Kohli did that as well,” Rampaul offered.

“When the partnership was building, we stuck to our plans, tried to restrict them from scoring runs and hoped that they would give away their hand. But Ashwin batted really well and deserved the century.”