Ahmedabad: Graeme Swann had come to India with a high reputation and considering the kind of wicket in offing for England in the four-match Test series, the off-spinner was expected to play a vital role in English line-up. And Swann didn’t disappoint his team as he took all the four Indian wickets that fell on day one of the first Test at Motera.

Speaking on the day’s one play, Swann admitted that India were in a strong position, thanks to the scintillating century from Virender Sehwag. "India undoubtedly won the first session and are in a strong position. The next two sessions were pretty even but we would have liked to take a couple of more wickets, which would have put us in the driver’s seat,” said Swann, crediting Sehwag for taking the game away from England.

"Viru played exceptionally well. The way he batted he really took the game away from us in the first couple of hours so it was very important to pull it back. We know he can be destructive. He's done it against us before. I've been reading in the paper that he hasn't got a century for a couple of years and he's been questioned by the local press . Good on him for banishing those doubters," said Swann.

Meanwhile on the course of taking four wickets on day one, Swann went past Jim Laker (193 wickets) and became England's highest wicket taking off-spinner when he scalped Sehwag's wicket.

Speaking about the same, Swann said that it was a proud moment for him. "When people told me I was near Jim Laker I was genuinely excited. When you're growing up these are the famous names of the game, you don't even dream of emulating them, let alone going past them," he said.

By Indian Sports News Network