Was a fantastic series. Right from the word go, how exciting it was. Lot of the players are playing this for the first time. We do understand the importance of this series and the opposition. Lot of hard work has gone into this. At different times we have come up with answers. We knew how important it was to start the series. The Delhi Test, I am very proud of. We were behind in the game. At Indore, we were put under pressure and lost the game. Different players put their hands up. Lot of guys took up the responsibility and bailed us out. Test Cricket is hard fought cricket and isn't easy. I am quite satisfied. I know what kind of benchmark I have set for myself. I keep the personal milestones aside, We have got the result from what I wanted from the series. To get the result makes us very happy.
To be honest, the expectations I have from myself as a player is more to important to me. I felt I was batting well from the first innings at Nagpur. We focussed on batting for long. I did that to an extent but not to the capability that I have done in the past. Was a little disappointed for that. Relief from the point of view that I could play the way I wanted to play. I was happy with my defence. I am not in a space now where I will go out and prove someone wrong. I also need to justify why I am there on the field. When I was 60 not out, we decided to play positively. But we lost Shreyas thanks to injury. So, we decided to play time. They were good with the ball and placed some good fields. We got a bit of a lead and gave ourselves some sort of a chance.
Did end slowly. Was a pretty flat at the back end. The boys had a great time. The hospitality has been amazing, The crowd has been amazing. We started to play better as the series went on. The madness in one hour in Delhi cost us that game. The wicket here was too flat for us to force a result. The spinners bowled really well. Murphy and Kuhnemann bowled with compusure. Lyon bowled his best in the first innings here, the best I have seen him bowl. I am getting a bit old.
It was a hard fought series. There were moments where we were put under extreme pressure and we managed to respond. Rohit led the way with the hundred in the first Test, capped off by the big one by Virat here. In the middle we had Jadeja, Axar, Shubman, probably missed a few. We needed to find people to respond and we found that. To be able to compete and get the better of them is a proud achievement. It's been an exciting 4-5 months for Shubman. Exciting to see a young player coming in and maturing. Great sign for us, long may it continue. Lovely kid, works hard on his skill. Great exposure for him to learn from the likes of Virat, Rohit, Steve Smith. We did have an eye on the New Zealand-Sri Lanka game. It was lunch time for us, so were following. They (Aussie spinners) have been exceptional, led by Nathan Lyon. Both young spinners (Kuhnemann and Murphy) gave him support. Lot of times we have seen overseas teams have only one good spinner and the others leak runs but the three here were outstanding. To have a quality spin attack, I think this is the best we have played since Panesar and Swann in India.
#TeamIndia have qualified for the ICC World Test Championship Final for the second time in a row. See you at The O… https://t.co/0ih938njZU
— BCCI (@BCCI) 1678697701000The fourth Test ends in a draw as India take the series 2-1 👏 #WTC23 | #INDvAUS | 📝 https://t.co/VJoLfVSeIF https://t.co/DSrUTbdMEO
— ICC (@ICC) 1678701376000Just the one wicket of Travis Head in the second session for India. #WTC23 | #INDvAUS | 📝 https://t.co/VJoLfVSeIF https://t.co/DrbUonEMaF
— ICC (@ICC) 1678697308000India have qualified for the World Test Championship final! They'll take on Australia at The Oval for the #WTC23 m… https://t.co/HKiQidmOTL
— ICC (@ICC) 1678690277000Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne hold firm in Ahmedabad. #INDvAUS | 📝 https://t.co/VJoLfVSMyd https://t.co/QkfPhYpGcp
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