Kohli heaps lavish praise on Ashwin after maiden home series win .

Ashwin-with-Kohli

 

Virat Kohli  had a go at the critics who complained about the Nagpur strip . The Indian captain , who had his first taste of a series win at home was in an aggressive  mood at the post match conference  when asked about the recent wickets in the series ,“It is not a policy.It is the conditions that we get in India.Otherwise playing test matches and making 500 runs….you don’t create bowlers like that and win test matches  They key is to win Test matches as I have said this before. Wherever you go in the world, you should be prepared to face those conditions and tune your game accordingly. We have  never complained about  the pitches abroad .”  I dont know why there is so much talk about the wickets. The key is to win test matches.I think it’s a matter of mindset. ”

He further added ,“I don’t know why there is so much hype about this issue. A lot of people are writing a lot of things about the pitch, that it should not be like this, or it’s turning too much.(There are) people sitting in other countries and speakingabout pitches in India” a jubilant Kohli said at the post match press conference.

According to Kohli ,”It is just a matter of mindset. People are giving their opinion and they are free to do so. But we don’t feel that way. Today was a classic example of two guys (South Africa captain Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis) applying themselves and showing that it can be done,”Kohli lashed out at his critics.

Kohli pointed out , “We have never complained when we had challenging conditions and we won’t complain in future either. We try to improve our game. It is always just the matter of us not having the technique or mental strength to cope with conditions away from home. When these sorts of things happen everyone talks about undue home advantage,”

Having won back-to-back Test series against Sri Lanka and now South Africa, Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Friday said ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been the reason behind the team’s recent success in the longer format. Ashwin bagged seven wickets in the final innings and 12 in the match to help India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series and also give Kohli his first series win at home. Kohli was lavish in his praise for the premier off-spinner. “Ashwin is a world-class spinner, he stepped up in a big way for us, even in Sri Lanka. He is been one of the main reasons why we are able to win back-to-back series. He is a consistent performer for us. It’s a pleasure to have someone like Ashwin in the side,” Kohli said after the match.

On the series win a delighted Kohli commented , “People can talk about it or can choose not to talk about it. The fact is that we have won the series. We won two Test matches. We have sealed the series and we are happy about it.”

Speaking about his team mates , Kohli commented, “As a team, we feel  we have to improve our play against spin as well. These are the conditions we will get in the sub-continent. This is a learning for us too as we have to play a lot of Test matches in future at home in subcontinent and we need to step up our game in order to win test matches.”

He did not forget to praise the South Africans who had the taste of a first series loss after 9 years , “If you see the stats of any team in the last few years, they are dominating at home. That’s how Test cricket has gone. Whoever has won away from home is the no one or 2 side. That shows lot of character; it would not happen every time.This is a side that has not lost for nine years. It is very hard to maintain that sort of record. Credit to them, they have not lost for nine years, but I will give credit to our boys to have put an equal amount of pressure on them in the course of three Tests matches and winning the series. I don’t see anything more  or less to that,” he said.