Ganga: I was not as talented as Lara or Sarwan, but I was very determined'

Subash Jayaraman: Your ESPNcricinfo profile reads: "It wasn't until his fourth coming in the international carer that he truly made his mark against the mighty Australians with back-to-back hundreds." Why do you think it took you so long to get comfortable?

Daren Ganga: If you look at my career, you will see I was virtually plucked out of school cricket and got to play international cricket from a very young age. I would have played just one full season of first-class season for Trinidad and Tobago. In 1997-98, I scored a hundred against Barbados and a half-century against Courtney Walsh and Franklin Rose's Jamaican team. I was selected for West Indies' first tour to South Africa post-apartheid. That was in 1998-99. I was 19. Really, the selection should have offered me the opportunity to learn more about the intensity of international cricket and what was required to be successful. Looking back, I got the opportunity to play, and I don't regret having that opportunity - that made me a strong player.

I travelled a lot initially in my career and I struggled because I was still learning my trade at the highest level. A lot of players make their international Test debut after playing about 60 to 70 first-class matches. That was not the case for me.

Before I really started to realise my potential, I never got the opportunity to play in the conditions in which I had honed my skills. It took me 17 Test matches before I played my first Test in the Caribbean, and that is where I scored my first Test hundred.

Full interview at ESPNcricinfo