Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh opened up about the second Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Kolkata in 2001 when he enforced the follow-on that backfired to see them eventually losing the Test match against India by 171 runs.

“People have said that, but I’ve never really worried about it or thought about it. I’m a big believer that in sport there’s got to be a winner and a loser, and if you do your best and try your hardest then move on,” in an interview Waugh told cricket.com.au

However, the 51-year-old legendary batsman Waugh stated he has no regret over his decision that he took 16 years ago.

Somehow, it was set as a lesson for Australian teams in the foreseeable future while thinking about enforcing follow-on during India tours.

“So in a lot of ways we broke some ground on that tour. We didn’t win, but I think I set in place a bit of a template for future teams to look at that maybe they could find useful,” Waugh further explained.

Australia in the first innings scored 445 runs in which Waugh scored 110 off 203 balls while spending 305 minutes at the crease and India in reply were bundled out for 171 runs which prompted Waugh to enforce the follow-on.

“And that (2001) series in India, I don’t regret. I think it was a great series for cricket, we really played well and we almost in some ways showed future teams that it was possible to win,” Waugh revealed.

In the second innings, India came back strongly and put the mammoth total of 657 for seven in which VVS Laxman (281 off 452 balls) and Rahul Dravid (180 off 353 balls) piled up 376 runs for the fifth wicket to put India in command.

“I could never come to grips with people crying over a loss in sport, and I still see it in junior sport and I say, ‘Come on guys, it’s just a game’,” Waugh further added.

Chasing the target of 384 runs, Australia were bundled out for 212 in which Harbhajan Singh claimed six wickets for 73 runs.

The New South Wales-born Waugh is also among the three Aussie captains’ in Test cricket who had lost a game after enforcing the follow-on the other two includes Kim Hughes, Jack Blackham against England in 1981 and 1894 respectively.