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India take final Test by an innings and 202 runs, sit pretty atop the World Test Series with 240 points after commanding 3-0 series win
contributing; we are taking catches; spinners and fast bowlers have been brilliant; (Wriddhiman) Saha is keeping the way he did, you can’t ask for anything more. We have become a multi-dimensional team now.”
Kohli added: “(All) we need to make sure is workload (management) and maintain good bench strength.”
The pace at which Rohit Sharma scored as the opener here helped India in a Test where nearly two sessions were lost to bad light and rain, said Kohli. “He has been the best opener in the world in one-dayers for a while. Credit to the player (Sharma) for the way he has overcome anxiety and hesitation and performed in such a manner that he was adjudged Man of the Series in the first series as an opener.”
After ending the third Test with almost two days to spare, India’s tally of 240 points in the World Test Championship is now more than what the remaining eight teams put together have accrued. Asked if this was the perfect performance, Kohli said: “I think so.”
If these numbers have gained such heft it is because of the work put in over the past four years, said Kohli. A crucial element has been creating a culture that stresses on the collective. “You play under pressure and get desperate if you think of your own
performance,” he said. So, if Nadeem started his first over in Test cricket without trying to impress anyone, it was because he “bought into what the team wants immediately.”
Another major element to India’s successful streak is, of course, fitness. “Your brain is supporting what you do because of your body. If you bowl three overs with full energy and you are tired for the next two, you will lose the opportunity to take a wicket after creating pressure. Look at Umesh (Yadav) field after a spell, you can’t tell that he is a fast bowler,” he said, speaking about the contribution of the fast bowlers, Yadav and Mohammed Shami, who shared 10 wickets between them in a Test match in
which India fielded three spinners.
“Their strike rate is probably the best in Indian conditions in history. Which tells you that these guys hit the stumps and the pads more than anyone else,” said Kohli. Half of Yadav and Shami’s wickets here were bowled or leg-before.
“They want challenges and want to come out on top. Even if the ball is doing a little bit after the spinners have bowled, they immediately want the ball back.”
Unlike Shami, Yadav hasn’t been a regular in the team so Kohli said that “constant communication with guys who don’t play is very important.”
“At the end of your career, you can say these are my numbers.
But if you are part of the champion team, you will have those memories forever. Having made impactful performances in a team which wins a lot leaves you with relationships that will last for a lifetime. The guys aren’t desperate; they understand that all we are trying to do is to win Test matches for India. Staying out of game time for so long and bowling like this shows he has been wanting to keep up with the standards the team has set,” said Kohli. Early in the interaction, Kohli spoke about things having gone in the right direction over the past two-three months, a period in which India have won all five Tests they played. Yet he knows a defeat may be around the corner because, “at the end of the day, we are 11 guys who can be vulnerable.”
“We will definitely have bad sessions, bad situations. But we will always be keen to learn and improve; we don’t let anyone slide things under the carpet. If in an hour we’ve given too many runs, the message is straight at drinks that it’s not good enough. We don’t wait for the session to get over and then speak because if another hour goes bad, you are letting the match go. Credit has to go to players because they are open to listening to things that need to be improved. And the execution has been outstanding,” he said.