Rushing off after dinner at a Thai restaurant, Rahul Dravid told some friends he had to "bat the whole day tomorrow".
It took Dravid a while to grab the spotlight. Now, he is just not letting go.
The Indian vice-captain's heroics in the deciding third Test against Pakistan were just another chapter of an incredible run.
It was his third Test double-century in the last six months, after 222 against New Zealand at Ahmedabad and 233 at Adelaide in December, when India stunned world champions Australia to pull off an unlikely Test victory.
He now holds the Indian record for double-centuries with five, surpassing former captain Sunil Gavaskar.
His 270 was also the third-highest score by an Indian, behind Virender Sehwag's 309 in the first Test at Multan and Vangipurappu Laxman's 281 at Calcutta in 2001.
The 31-year-old has come a long way since shedding the tag of "always the bridesmaid, never the bride", which followed his early career.
Right from his debut 95 at Lord's in 1996, when Saurav Ganguly cracked 131, Dravid was upstaged by a team mate whenever he did well.
Four years ago, he was involved in a world record one-day international stand of 318 with Ganguly against Sri Lanka in the World Cup.
Dravid made a masterly 145 but Ganguly overshadowed him with a cocky 183 that included seven sixes.
Against Australia in 2001, Dravid scored 180 in India's greatest-ever Test partnership of 376 but it was Laxman who grabbed all the plaudits with his 281.
Even when Dravid scored 148 at Headingley in 2002, Sachin Tendulkar trumped him with a 193 that took the master batsman past Don Bradman's 29 Test centuries.
The label, despite all Dravid's achievements, had stuck.
However, he changed the script at The Oval in the following Test, hitting a flawless 217. When he walked back to the pavilion, India had amassed 508 and the next highest score was Tendulkar's 54. Dravid had finally shed the tag.
Since then, the floodgates have opened.
His centuries have moved from nine to 17 and his average from the late 40s to 58.
On present form, he is easily India's best batsman and among the foremost in the world, introducing a new level of consistency to the Indian team.
When he struck a century against West Indies in Bombay in 2002, he had become only the fourth player in test history, after Everton Weekes, Jack Fingleton and South African Alan Melville, to score hundreds in four consecutive innings.
Nicknamed "The Wall", Dravid's aura is not just about the runs he gets but when he gets them.
His best knocks have invariably come in adverse circumstances or when India were pushing for victory.
The only overseas win in recent times in which he did not contribute with the bat was against Pakistan at Multan last month, when he was leading the side in Ganguly's absence.
"Dravid's form over the last few months has been amazing," Indian coach John Wright said.
"The best thing is that he's only just begun."