Indian Test captain Virat Kohli is happy that his team made a few corrections that went wrong in Jamaica during the second Test that saw them failing to get even six wickets on the final day.
India won the series 2-0 by winning the third Test by 237 runs despite losing an entire day’s play due to poor weather conditions.
No doubt Kohli was happy when told about Indian team’s feat of winning two Test matches in a single series since they started coming to West Indies in the early 1950’s.
“We have done quite a few firsts in the last year. In Jamaica, we understood the things that went wrong. We corrected those things here on the fourth day. We got seven wickets for 31 runs (on the 4th day) and that was the game-changer. We have always aimed to win series’ away from India. This is a good start,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Kohli also happy that his all three changes worked well and made it clear that it will be him and not anyone else who will be batting at No 3 from now on with Rohit Sharma getting an extended run at No 5.
“We made three changes and we understood Rohit needs to be backed at a particular position. I batted at No 3, Jinks (Rahane) at No 4. Rohit is dangerous at No 5 and takes the game away in a session. That means I take up the extra responsibility at No 3. I don’t mind that and someone like Ashwin is batting well.
“And we can play five bowlers. It was wonderful, commendable from Bhuvneshwar. He showed the bowlers how to bowl inconsistent areas. We lost early wickets here, that’s the way Test cricket goes. I am being too critical but we will look for a complete performance in Trinidad,” said Kohli.
Kohli also praised wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha who scored hundred in the first innings of India
“We all know Ash can beat but you particularly feel happy when a teammate like Saha does well. Such a nice person, never cribs about anything, does not have a bad word to say about anybody, ready to bat at Nos 8,9, or 10.”
The man of the match award given to Ravichandran Ashwin who scored a hundred and gave India a late surge in the first innings.
“We thought 234 on the first day was a par score, and we wanted to extend it. From the outside, it looked like a slow wicket. We were bowling good lines and conservative lengths and Bhuvi bowled that wonderful spell on the fourth day.”