Who said what: As India sealed a win in the 500th Test match

Virat Kohli-led Indian side wrapped up the first Test of the three-match series by 197 runs at Kanpur. The Indian skipper praised the lower middle-order, that added crucial runs with the bat in both the innings to give the home side the advantage.

He also said that he used to get advice from people around him as he is still in his early days as a skipper. “There have been cases where we’ve gone on one mode and the runs were leaked. One learning that we are taking forward is when wickets aren’t coming, we need to be patient. All the sides that are doing well around the world have strong lower-middle orders. The tailenders also contribute. That’s one area that we have improved and we need to keep working on because those 30-40 extra runs could prove crucial,” said Kohli.

Kohli credited the visitors for the kind of character they have shown even though they ended up losing the game. “When New Zealand were batting well on Day 2, me and Ashwin had a chat about this Test match being an exciting game. We needed to play at our best to win. Credit goes to New Zealand as well. The reason why this game went to the second session on the fifth day was because of the character they showed.”

The Kiwi’s skipper Kane Williamson said that it was a two session period that took the game away from them. “Restricting India to 300 odd on a good batting surface was a very good effort, but at the end of the day, India were certainly the better team. The way Santner applied himself with both bat and ball was impressive and the way Luke Ronchi came back into the side and played with freedom was good to watch. It’s important that the boys recover nicely and we look forward to another challenge in Kolkata.”

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I enjoy bowling with Ashwin: Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja was awarded as the ‘Player of the match’ for his performance with both bat and ball. He said that he was preparing well with the bat as well ahead of the Test match and Duleep Trophy helped him as he bagged a couple of 5-wicket hauls there as well, which gave him the confidence.

“The ball wasn’t turning from the stump line in the first innings, so we were trying to mix the pace. Obviously Ashwin is a very good bowler on slow turning wickets and I would like to congratulate him for 200 wickets. Whenever the wickets wasn’t falling, we would discuss strategies. In the first innings when Williamson and Latham were batting, we discussed about the pace to bowl, the angles to bowl. I enjoy bowling with him,” said Jadeja.

Shami’s two wickets were crucial: Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane who scored 40 crucial runs in the second inning said that it feels really great to stand at slip to Jadeja and Ashwin. “You have to concentrate hard and be at your best. It is important to switch off and on between balls. On this track, you have to be more alert as half chances matter a lot.”

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Mohammad Shami bagged two wickets in the first session of Day 5 as the ball started to reverse. Rahane said that two wickets were very important at that point. “Those two wickets from Shami were very crucial and of course Ashwin was fantastic as well and Jadeja too contributed really well. Momentum is what we wanted and it’s a happy moment for all of us that we have won the first game,” he concluded.