Antigua: Ecstatic about India’s win against West Indies in the first Test of the three-match series at Antigua on Sunday, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said that it was always a good feeling to start with a win in the series that it was a complete team performance.
“It just feels good to get a win on the board. We had a good preparation time for three weeks. Everyone was excited. It was a complete performance,” said Kohli adding, “Scoring wasn't easy. Initially the West Indies bowled well. A couple of their bowlers rushed us. At 70-odd for 2 with five batsmen, I had to take responsibility. Shikhar was playing really well and I wanted to be positive. If you want to win a Test, you have to score quickly and give the bowlers a chance to bowl the opposition out twice.”
“Then Ashwin played a brilliant innings down the order. It was a team batting performance. If we're playing five batsmen, we wanted to deepen the order. We had Saha at No. 7 and Ashwin was good enough to bat at No. 6. He was a pure batsman before he became an offspinner. It’s always good to have someone who can do pretty well in both,” said the skipper, adding, “Our initial thought was three spinners, but the amount of grass made us go with three quicks.”
“Ishant bowled well without luck. Shami and Umesh were outstanding. They way they bowled on a wicket like this, they rushed the batsmen. For someone like Shami, who was making a comeback after surgery, it was a fantastic performance. He's a perfect Test bowler, hits those perfect deliveries to get batsmen out. Ishant is always consistent, Umesh bowled well too,” said Kohli
“If you want to be the best, adaptability is one thing you have to do well. The way we prepare is important. Sandeep Patil asked me if I could hit a six through the innings and I said playing five batsmen, I can't hit sixes. We want to win every game we play, that's always been our vision and aim. I'm confident. If they give us a dry wicket, three spinners come into play with Jadeja's batting. In the field we were good too. We need to be confident, but not complacent.”
R Ashwin,l who was Man of the Match said he wasn't finding his rhythm in the first innings. “Virat gave me a long spell after lunch today and I was working on my rhythm with Anil bhai as well. Worked on it, you finish your action well, I wasn't getting a long enough spell, but today it was different.”
