Kanpur: Ravindra Jadeja, who was man-of-the-match in India’s 500th Test match which the Men-In-Blue won by 197 runs against New Zealand, said that he was very happy with the result and his performance and that he was all prepared to play his role with the bat.

“I am very happy. I had been preparing to play my role with the bat. If I give myself time on the crease, then I can play my shots. Duleep Trophy final helped me a lot. I was getting wickets in that game too. I was very confident. I'm used to bowling on such wickets, on turning tracks. That's what I was focussed on. I was enjoying myself.”

“The wicket was pretty slow in the first innings. I think we tried and mixed the pace. Obviously Ashwin is a very good bowler on slow turning tracks and I would like to congratulate him for 200 wickets. I'm enjoying bowling with him and whenever wicket was not falling, we always talked about what to do. We enjoy each other's company. In the first innings, when Kane Williamson was batting, we talked about bowling over or around, bowling fast or slow, etc,” said Jadeja.

Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane said that one had to be to be extra alert in the slips on these kinds of wickets with Jadeja and Ashwin bowling. “Anywhere you have to concentrate hard, switch on and off as well. But in these kinds of wickets, you have to be more alert. Sometimes on flat tracks, it may not come at you. But here half chances matter a lot. It was a lot slower. Credit to the fast bowlers too. Shami getting those two wickets. Ashwin was fantastic of course and Jadeja contributed too. Compared to first innings, it the reverse swing was more in the second. The momentum is important, and the first match of a series is very important. The credit goes to the boys and the management.”