It was a lifetime innings: Amre

"Luckily for me Azhar was batting at the other end when I went in and this gave me a lot of confidence as he was middling the ball very well and looked set for a big score. Being the last of the recognised batsmen, I had to see off the South African fast bowlers, who were threatening to run through our batting even as our skipper was run out after a misunderstanding," Amre said.

Praising former wicketkeeper Kiran More as a real motivator, Amre said, the stumper’s contribution to the total was as vital as his century in gaining the first innings lead.

"Though Kapil and Manoj (Prabhakar) were dismissed for low scores, Kiran More hung around for a long time as we built a solid partnership. Kiran, who was the senior player, was the one who motivated me to just keep on going irrespective of the hostility shown by South African bowlers and luckily for me I could accomplish what I set out for and got to my only hundred in Test cricket," he said.

"A tour to South Africa is always tough as they set high standard for any visiting team to follow. Even though they had an average batting line-up at that time their bowling and fielding were top class and debutant Jonty Rhodes, who made his debut along with Omar Henry, Jimmy Cook, McMillan and Schultz, made a big difference to the two teams," he added.

"With lot of hard work and determination I not only managed to get to the three figure mark but also did justice to my hard work. The tour was particularly satisfying for me personally as I went on to win the Man-of-the-Match awards in both Test and One-Dayers," Amre said.

When asked to compare the present South African team with the 1992 squad, Amre said, the 1992 side was very strong in bowling and fielding departments while the present team, under Graeme Smith, had strong batting line-up though their bowling looked a bit weak with the absence of Shaun Pollock (retired) and Andre Nel (not picked).

"The 1992 team was strong in bowling and fielding while the present team has a strong batting line-up while their fielding has always been top class. However, playing South Africans anywhere is a tough task and my best wishes will always with team India", he said.

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