Bulawayo: Team India captain Sourav Ganguly said on Thursday that his patient knock of 101 against Zimbabwe meant a lot to him as he had not performed well recently and was under pressure.

“Yes, it is not the best side of the world, but it has meant a lot to me,” he said after the third day’s play. “I was happy for myself as I had a bad time with the bat in both forms of the game,” he added.

“Playing consistently at this level is important. I’m happy that I fought it out,” he remarked.

Sourav’s 12th century came off 262 balls after a shade over six-hour stay at the crease.

When asked about his detractors crying for his head, he said: “I struggled against Pakistan and the last year has been a disappointing one for me. It is not for me to prove anything because the criticism has been fair. I have got the ability to play for the team.”

Sourav said that despite the pressure, he had tried to carry on gamely in this match and God had been kind to him.

Reacting to V.V.S. Laxman’s comment on Wednesday that “there have been negative vibes in the team and outside and I just wanted to prove myself,” Sourav insisted that he had been a “big supporter of Laxman and will always be.”

“I have always believed in Laxman’s ability and I told him yesterday (Wednesday) that he didn’t have to prove himself to anyone,” he said.

Sourav said that those who have questioned his form would do well to look at the statistics and would find that he has scored nearly 1000 runs in the last 16 Tests.