New Delhi, Nov 9: After a tense three days, India eventually won the first Test of the three-match series against the West Indies comfortably by five wickets and a day to spare.
The Indian batting line-up stood up to the task of scoring 276 runs in the second innings after being bowled out for 209 in the first. A fine effort from the batsmen in the second innings secured India their first victory in seven Tests.
In the post-match media-interaction, skipper MS Dhoni appreciated his bowlers’ efforts, especially spinners Pragyan Ojha and R Ashwin, and the improved batting performance in the second innings.
Excerpts from the interaction:
On getting back to winning ways
It feels good. That’s what you always want to do as a team. But Test cricket doesn’t always go your way. In fact [no matter what the] format, it doesn’t always go the way you want it to go. It’s good to be on the winning side.
On coming back to win after conceding a first-innings lead of 95 runs
We didn’t bat the way we should [have] in the first innings. It was not a sign of panic [but] we said ‘Okay, we will have to make it up.’ For that we had to do well in the second innings. [Pragyan] Ojha bowled well in the first innings while there was not much on the wicket to [work with]. [Ravichandran] Ashwin has got a few variations up his sleeve and he [Ashwin] was well supported by some of the other bowlers.
On whether he was happy with the batting performance
In the second innings, yes, of course. We got off to a good start in both the innings; after that the middle order worked in the second innings. Sachin [Tendulkar] batted really well. There was a decent partnership between Sachin and Rahul [Dravid] and later on with VVS Laxman. That really made it a bit easy because it was one of those wickets where it was not easy to score. It was not a wicket that seemed like it would turn a lot and get the batsman out, but you had to be aware of the ball that kept low and you had to really work your innings to get runs on the board.
On keeping the momentum going in in the second Test match at Kolkata
It is important. At the same time, we’ve got one more day off [thanks to the early finish at Kotla] so we will relax and get ready for the next one. Hopefully it will be a different wicket.
