After winning the Melbourne Test against the hosts Australia by 137 runs, the Indian captain Virat Kohli claimed that they are going to take a long run from there. He also credited the entire team for this victory.

India just needed to pick up two more wickets to win the game but the rain washed out the entire first session of the fifth day. Starting the day form the early second session, India took around just 15-20 minutes to secure a special victory. In the four-match Test series, India is now leading by 2-1 with one Test to go.

Talking about their victory, Indian skipper Virat Kohli told in the match presentation, “We are not going to stop here. This has given us more confidence to play more positive cricket in Sydney. We’ve done well in all three departments, which is why we’ve retained the trophy. But we want to continue. This is how we played in South Africa too, and we’re not ready for the final game. “

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Despite having 292 runs lead at the end of the first innings clashes, Indian team decided to not forcing the hosts’ side for follow-on.

Speaking on that decision, Kohli said, “It’s a good thing I don’t read any comments or opinions (on not enforcing the follow on). I wanted us to bat more, and add some more runs, because batting would be difficult on day four and five. We knew that it would be tough for Australia, but credit to our bowlers, especially Jasprit.

“The three fast bowlers have broken the record for most wickets by pacers in a calendar year for a team, which is brilliant. I certainly feel proud as a captain when they bowl in partnerships. No one is looking to out-bowl each other.”

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Recently, the former Australian cricketer and present commentator, Kerry O’Keeffe had a demeaning comment about the Indian first-class cricket when he told that Mayank Agarwal’s maiden first-class triple-hundred came against “canteen staff”.

However, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli credited the Indian first-class cricket to set-up the brilliant skilful talented pacers for the nation.

Kohli added, “Our first-class cricket is amazing, which is why we won. Credit must go to first-class set-up in India, which challenges our fast bowlers in India, and that helps them abroad.”

Making his international cricket debut, Mayank Agarwal (76 and 42) has impressed hugely as an opening batsman. Praising the new man, Kohli added Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and even Hanuma Vihari’s crucial batting.

Kohli said, “Agarwal showed great character on Boxing Day. And Pujara has always been composed, so we just wanted a big partnership. And the fact that Vihari batted so long in the first innings, it allowed us to bat more confidently. And Rohit’s 60-odd as well.”

As India is leading the series by 2-1 with one Test to go, India can’t lose this series anymore but there is a very good chance to win their first ever Test series on the Australian soil.

Talking about that, Kohli said, “Honestly I cannot answer that. Nothing can distract us from trying to win that final Test, because we’ve never been in a position to win a series. Thank you.”

Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah won the Player of the Match award for his brilliant bowling in both the innings. The right-arm pacer bagged a total of nine wickets in this Test match as he had the bowling figures of 15.5-4-33-6 and 19-3-53-3. On that presentation ceremony, Bumrah also credited Ranji Trophy for his success.

Bumrah said, “To play Test cricket is a great feeling: be it Boxing Day or any other day. I made my India debut in Australia, so great feeling. I always focus on consistency. When you have so many options, you may get confused. Someday you get wickets, someday another mate will, but we don’t think about those. Bowled a lot, but I don’t mind, because this is why we train. We bowl a lot in Ranji-Trophy cricket, and it pays off. When I made my ODI debut, I always just wanted to play Test cricket.”

After losing the Melbourne Test, the Aussie captain Tim Paine felt disappointed and now he is finding positives prior to the final Test of the series at Sydney (3-7 January 2019).

Paine said, “We made some strides forward in Perth, but this was disappointing. We’re playing against some of the best bowlers, and we need to find positives before Sydney. Another huge challenge coming up. We had little discussions about the batting order, but conditions in Sydney will be different, so we’ll decide on the best formula.”

Though the Melbourne pitch took the centre stage of the Test match, Paine had no issue with the pitch and he remarked it as a good one.

Paine added, “The pitch was a good one, although some said it’s a ‘bad wicket’. I was glad I didn’t win the toss, because I wanted to bowl anyway. Would’ve looked disastrous.”

Pat Cummins performed brilliantly in this game where he took nine wickets in this entire Test match and also played a fighting 63-run knock in the fourth innings of the Test match.

Talking about that, Paine said, “Cummins has been superb all series. The quality was always there, but the Australian public can see his effort. We just need a few more guys to jump in with him. It’s been a difficult year, but the silver lining is that we’ll have some world-class players available for selection in a few months. And we’ll see the benefits of what happened this year over the next few.”