After a remarkable few days in his career, Amir Jangoo was still trying to take it all in. If it hadn't been for the injury to Shai Hope on the eve of the first Test against Sri Lanka, he would not played, but three days later was reflecting on making 233 in a world-record stand of 401 with his captain Roston Chase, who also scored a career-best 194.
It was just the second Test 28-year-old Jangoo had played after making his debut in Pakistan early last year but over a marathon 373-ball stay he compiled West Indies' highest individual score since Marlon Samuels' 260 against Bangladesh in 2012.
"It was an amazing day, still words can't describe how I feel right now," Jangoo said. "But having said that, we have a Test match to win and I'm glad I could have contributed to putting the guys in a really good position along with the captain."
It was the third century of Jangoo's first-class career and remarkably they are all doubles after an unbeaten 203 earlier this year in the domestic four-day competition and his previous career-best of 218 made in 2024.
"I think I have a formula in batting, especially in red-ball cricket, where I know that once I get to 20 runs that means I bat close to 40 to 50 balls," he said. "Our batting coach, Floyd Reifer, mentioned it to me as well, how starts are so important. So I think I went around with that formula, and it worked."
Jangoo also took particular satisfaction in the success of Chase who passed fifty for the first time since being appointed captain last year, having had a previous highest score of 44 in 16 innings. "We have a pretty close relationship on and off the field as well," Jangoo said. "We all know that he wasn't having the best time of the bat, but we all know the quality player that he is and it's amazing to see that he could have come to the fore in this match."
Chase, meanwhile, paid tribute to how Jangoo had slotted into the side at short notice with such an outstanding result. "For a guy to be thinking that he's not going to play and then get that last-minute call, to be so focused and so switched on and so hungry to perform like that, I think he's a herculean effort," he told the host broadcaster.
On his own success, Chase admitted it had taken him time to get back into the rhythm of red-ball cricket having not played Tests for more than two years when named captain and having played just three first-class games in that gap.
"For the past two or three years, I wasn't really playing a lot of red-ball cricket, so it was just for me to find back that rhythm in red-ball cricket," he said. "I played a few games this year in the four-day regional, and I thought that I really [did] find back my footing in the red-ball [game], being out there for long periods.
"I think that spending those two, three years out of the red-ball cricket, spending time at the crease was something that was not really on my mind. It was more about scoring and scoring quickly. But I think in red-ball cricket, occupying the crease is first and foremost, and once you do that, the runs will come."
It ended a more than seven-year wait for a sixth Test hundred having previously made one against England in February 2019. "It feels good to get your first one [as captain], but I am not one to really put pressure on myself," he said. "Even though I wasn't getting the scores that I was looking for, I just want to obviously encourage [others] and try to bring the best out of my team-mates as the leader. So that's what I'm really about, but it's good to also not lead just by words, but on the field as well."