Vidarbha were under pressure as they slipped to 24/3 but Malewar hit an unbeaten 138 (259 balls, 14x4s, 2x6s) and added 215 runs with Karun Nair (86) for the fourth wicket, lifting the hosts to 254/4 at stumps here on Wednesday.
“I had not gone in thinking about making a hundred. Initially we had lost wickets, the bowlers were getting help (from the pitch) and the ball was seaming,” Malewar told the media after the first day's play.
Malewar said he was determined to score a big knock here after making five fifties and one hundred in his debut season.
“Yes, since it was a big game. I had prepared myself for this. I was getting dismissed (after half-centuries) so my plan was to play as much as I can with the straight bat and keep it simple after reaching fifty,” he said.
Talking about his fourth-wicket partnership with Nair, Malewar said the plan was to play with patience.
"We wanted to keep it simple, not play too many shots but play with the patience of the bowlers. He keeps helping, guiding in being patient, especially when there has been a lapse in concentration,” he said.
While Malewar and Nair had a robust stand that helped Vidarbha stage a strong recovery, their partnership was broken following a mix-up and the young batter admitted that it did give Kerala some advantage.
“The run-out was unfortunate, you cannot say who was at fault in it. Had that not happened, we would've been in an even better position because they got a wicket of a set batter at the day's end,” he said.