India's victory in the third Test against New Zealand was chiefly due to: a record partnership between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane in the first innings; Cheteshwar Pujara's hundred in the second and Ravichandran Ashwin's 13-wicket haul. But skipper Virat Kohli preferred to point out the “little contributions”.
"It is a team sport, and it is played like a team sport. Those who write, praise or criticise, performances stand out only for them,” Kohli said after lifting the trophy and being handed over with the mace for being the No. 1 Test team in the world.
"In the team we know, for example, if a fast bowler runs in hard for four overs and gets only two wickets, that means a lot in a Test match. For me, the most important points in this series were (Ravindra) Jadeja’s batting in the first Test, (Wriddhiman) Saha’s batting in the second Test, and (Mohammed) Shami’s spell in the second Test.
"They matter a lot to the team. Obviously you feel good about big individual contributions, but we focus more on little contributions. Because the big ones will be talked of anyway.”
With India having warmed up to a long season of Test cricket, Kohli said that the team is capable of winning against any opposition in diverse conditions in India. The series saw the traditional Indian pitches, which aids batting for the first two days before helping spinners, than rank turners.
"We knew before the series that people are going to start talking about pitches. But we knew that there are monsoons everywhere, wickets are not going to be as dry. Especially in Kolkata, we knew that it wouldn't be dry, it was a newly laid wicket,” he said.
“We believe in our abilities, we should be good enough to do it on any surface and against any team. That is a step in the right direction as far as our team is concerned. We believe in our skill much more, and not focus on creating atmosphere or conditions which might suit us partially.
"We just wanted to express ourselves the way we can on a cricket field. We finished two games in four days on perfectly fine pitches. That gives us a lot of confidence.”
Kohli was expectedly asked for a reaction on Harbhajan Singh’s recent tweet: "Kumble and my Test wicket count would have been something else if we got wickets like last 4 years we playing on."
"Even if it is a turning pitch you have to bowl well. Spin doesn’t happen only off the pitch," he said, "Spin is about how many revs you throw off the shoulder first. And then the ball will do something off the pitch.
"I quite clearly remember in the World Cup (WT20) after we lost to New Zealand, suddenly their spinners were quality and we were found out. I don’t see anybody talking about it now. The same spinners have played and why they have not been able to pick wickets? It is as simple as that. Our fast bowlers picked wickets everywhere, nobody complained about it."
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