Former India skipper Virat Kohli was declared Player Of The Series on Sunday for his heroic knock of 186 against Australia in the Ahmedabad Test, which ended in a draw. With this result, India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1 and secured a place for the World Test Championship final, to be played in England this summer.
Speaking after the match, Kohli said, “To be honest, the expectations I have from myself as a player matters more to me. I felt I was batting well from the first innings at Nagpur and carried the form in the innings that followed. We focussed on batting for longer durations. I did that to an extent but not to the capability that I have done in the past so I Was a little disappointed with that. Relief from the point of view that I could play the way I wanted to play and get a hundred.”
Australia made 480 in their first innings and were 175-2 in their second innings when the match ended in a draw. India had ended their first innings at 571 with Kohli scoring the bulk of the runs.
Indian skipper Rohit Shrma said after the match, “Was a fantastic series overall. A lot of the players were playing this for the first time in their careers. We do understand the importance of this series and the capabilities of the opposition too. A lot of hard work has gone into this in terms of planning and preparations. At different times we have come up with answers to tough situations. We knew how important it was to start the series on a positive note. The Delhi Test, I am very proud of as we were behind in the game and came back.
“At Indore, it did not go our way. Lot of guys took up the responsibility and bailed us out when the team needed the most. Test Cricket is hard-fought cricket and isn’t easy at any point. I am quite satisfied with how the team has done. I know what kind of benchmark I have set for myself. I keep the personal milestones aside, We have got the result of what I wanted from the series. To get the result makes us very happy.”
Australian captain Steve Smith said that even though the Ahmedabad pitch was flat at the back end ‘but the boys had a great time throughout.’
“The hospitality has been amazing in India, the crowd has been amazing as always. We started to play better as the series went on. The madness and errors in one hour in Delhi cost us that game and that was a crucial moment in the series too. The wicket here was too flat for us to force a result with the time remaining. The spinners bowled really well in the series. Todd Murphy and Matt Kuhnemann bowled with composure alongside Natham Lyon, pretty happy to see them do well,” Smith said.
India and Australia will not play the ODI series with the first match scheduled to be played in Mumbai on 17 March.
