The three match Test series on Sri Lankan shores offered the Indians a chance to create history, and that is what precisely the team did by clean sweeping the hosts. In the due process, the series became India’s first instance of whitewashing a Test side in a series of at least three games, away from home. Even if this comes up against a clueless Sri Lankan outfit, it can be counted as a colossal success given the sheer dominance.
The win achieved on the third day at Kandy, marked the end of the series as the Indian bowlers stamped their authority yet again. Spinner R. Ashwin was brilliant once again as his four wicket haul decimated Sri Lanka on the third day.
The Indian personnel will full of smiles after the historic win, and this is how they reacted after wrapping up the series.
Cheteshwar Pujara: We have been scoring good runs together. We’ve played enough cricket together. We’ve played for Indian Oil and even there we’ve had big partnerships. When it comes to preparation, he always believes in it. Once we tick-marked all the boxes in preparation, then we trust in our abilities. The best part about this batting unit is that we trust in our processes. We’ve got a couple of overseas tours coming up. We’ll be playing Sri Lanka in India, but after that, we are going to South Africa and in 2018 we’ll go to England. We definitely would like to succeed and win series overseas too. I’d like to play some more county matches. Those county games did help me. As a batsman, you improve on those challenging pitches.
Ajinkya Rahane: I played the wrong shot I had to admit, I used my feet well in the last game and I think I played a bad shot in this game. The best part about Sanjay Bangar is he keeps things really simple he always backs us and asks us to go and express ourselves on the field. The guys who aren’t doing well, he takes them out for dinner and makes them feel better. A couple of days off and then I’ll think about my one day plan. We have got a very good bunch. For me, it is about keeping it simple and doing my best for the team.
Kuldeep Yadav: Nice feeling, there were expectations form family and friends, happy that the match went through nicely. I think Kookaburra ball is more helpful for my style of bowling, the ball tends to spin a lot more when compared to the SG ball. Looking forward to the ODI series, every game is important for me. There will be no excuses, a couple of practice sessions with the white ball will be helpful. Virat Kohli was very supportive, we both planned together and went through with the best possible ideas.’