Maiden Test century 'proudest moment in an England shirt' – Jos Buttler

"Test cricket is really tough – it tests you in all sorts of ways and this is definitely my proudest moment in an England shirt," Buttler, who hit 106, said after the fourth day of the third Test on Tuesday, 21 August.

"It's been a long time coming and a few months ago it was a million miles away. It's a huge moment for me."

When Buttler came in to bat, England were stuttering at 62/4 as India completely dominated the morning session.

In the afternoon session, though, Buttler along with Ben Stokes (62) led the England fightback as they both shared a 169-run stand. Their partnership is now England's highest fifth-wicket stand in the fourth innings, surpassing Willie Watson and Trevor Bailey's previously-held record association of 163 runs at Lord's in 1953.

Buttler looked determined, batted with intent and steadied the proceedings for England with his 106 from 176 balls, and on his way, he also hit 21 boundaries.

"Something I try and do is read the situation and play accordingly," Buttler pointed out. "We were just trying to work through small passages of play. You can't (overstate) how much luck plays a part – human error, a dropped catch (by Rishabh Pant) and I wouldn't be sat here today.

"Trying to focus on the moment and play each ball on its merit within your gameplan is all you're trying to do and if it means they bowl well and you play out four maidens you try and trust your defence to get you through that."

However, as soon as India took the new ball, India captain Virat Kohli handed the responsibility to Jasprit Bumrah. The paceman first broke the crucial stand by trapping Buttler in front. With that wicket, England started to lose momentum and the finish the day on 311/9.

"We knew the second new ball was going to be a big phase – it's disappointing we couldn't make it last a bit longer," Buttler said.

"It was very important for us to show a lot of character and fight and not give it to India easily and we did that really well throughout the day, even the two guys (Adil Rashid and James Anderson) at the end they're making sure we come back for a fifth day," he added.

Buttler made a comeback into the Test side after almost a gap of 17 months in May in the series against Pakistan.

"I was never sure if I'd ever play Test cricket again so all those thoughts go through your head when you're out there and start to get close [to a hundred]," he admitted.

"To show you can do it for your team and that you hopefully belong is maybe the biggest thing."