Spinners have had an upper hand in the series: Virat Kohli

Spinners have had an upper hand in the series: Virat Kohli: India won the 3^rd Test match of the Freedom series by 124 runs as the South African batsmen did not have enough runs and answers to the turn and bounce Indian spinners extracted off the Nagpur wicket. As expected the curator rolled out a rank turner and the ball turned right from day 1 and the surface got tougher as the game progressed. But it was the Indian batsmen who showed more application than their South African counterparts to put up totals under which they could bowl out the opponents.

Though there was a lot of debate over the quality of the wicket South African skipper Hashim Amla did not wish to talk much about it though agreeing that it was the most difficult factor for them to tackle in the match.

In the post-match presentation ceremony Hashim Amla said: “Obviously very disappointing. It was a hard game. Whether we win or lose, we have to fight honorably and well done to the guys. We tried to dig deep as long as we can. The pitch was a difficult factor, it was turning and bouncing whether the new ball or the old one. Three-day matches are difficult.”

It was time for the winning captain to come out and give his views, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli who won his 1^st Test series on home soil as the skipper, was delighted by the performances his boys put up especially the spinners. He also said it was great to seal the series with one Test to go and they will be relaxed heading to Delhi for the final match which will be Kohli’s home game as well.

He said: “Very pleasing indeed, especially because they won the ODI and T20 series. Some good cricket in Mohali, Bangalore and here. Feels very good. We played some good cricket. Ashwin is a world-class spinner, he stepped up in a big way for us, maybe the best in the world at the moment, we expected them to string in a partnership or two,”

“This is what Test cricket is, we need patience with the ball and believing a chance will come. Mishra showed great character in that period. I think it was a challenging wicket, the batsmen applied better in Mohali. It is all about application. There are no sorts of excuses on that, our batsmen showed character in three innings. Sometimes you have conditions where it is going to be bowler-friendly, chances can be created. Spinners have had an upper hand in the series. Sealing the series was very important; Delhi will be an opportunity for us to be more consistent.” Virat concluded.

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recorded his best bowling figures grabbing 7 wickets for 66 runs in the innings and he also matched his best Test performance getting 12 wickets in the match. He was awarded the Man of the Match for his excellent show with the ball.

Ashwin said, “The wicket slowed up a bit today, there was help in the wicket but the way Faf and Amla played, we had to put some good balls. One team was trying to fight; one team was trying to win. Batsmen go out to make 100s; I go out to get five-fors. I thought Amit bowled a wonderful spell after lunch; we prized out a couple of wickets in that post-lunch session. Anybody who goes out there and trusts his defense can play well.”

(Comments source: ESPNcricinfo commentary)

Also read: Poll – Is the criticism against turning tracks in India justified?