West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan breathed sigh of relief rather than joy when he reached his century against Zimbabwe this weekend, saying he had been feeling the pressure to perform upon his return to the side.

Sarwan was out of the Windies set up for a year due to a falling out with the management, but he made his comeback against Australia earlier this year. That tour did not go well, with a top score of 12.

He thus needed to come good against the African minnows, and even though the bowling attack was hardly that of the Aussies, one still has to score the runs, and Sarwan took advantage with a cracking 120 not out off 143 balls to secure the second ODI and thus the series.

The 32-year-old said: "I felt a burden lifted when I reached my hundred. I was lacking a little confidence before this performance. So I have my confidence back now. When I hit the first few (shots) out of the middle of the bat, I felt good again.

"I have been doing a lot of hard work. Everyone knows I didn't have the best tour of Australia, but I was determined to do well after I was given the opportunity to open the batting after Johnson Charles was unable to play.

"The management and the captain asked me to do the job and move up, and for me I saw it as a great chance to bat 50 overs and get some runs under my belt.

"I just have to continue from here and look to get better and get back to where I was a few years ago when I was fully on top of my game."