India captain Virat Kohli on Monday labelled India’s first Test win in Australia in a decade as “very special” and added the result gave his side momentum in their bid for a series victory.
The visitors held on to a tense 31-run win in the opening Test in Adelaide on the fifth day after setting Australia a target of 323, which would have been a record chase at the venue.
It was a big moment in Kohli’s captaincy as the Indians had last tasted success on Australian soil in Perth in 2008.
“Obviously it’s a great feeling. We’ve never taken a lead in a series in Australia, something that for us is a huge boost,” Kohli said.
“And it’s given us the right momentum that we needed to play a big series like this and it’s something that we’ve had to work hard for. Any Test victory is special because you work hard over five days, and then the physical and the mental toil and the emotion of it all comes together in a result is a very special feeling.”
Kohli felt his team played better than Australia as a unit and therefore deserved to win. The win was built on Cheteshwar Pujara’s knocks of 123 and 71, while wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant took a world record-equalling 11 catches.
“It was priceless from Pujara, we were down and out at lunch on day one. His grit and determination brought us back in it,” said Kohli.
“We always knew that runs on the board would make the home side tentative. Any lead was gold and we got 15. In the second innings again, he (Pujara) and Rahane batted well.”
Asked if the team thought that 323 would be enough , Kohli said his lower order batsmen could have done more. The visitors lost 5-25 at the end of the second innings.
“We could have added another 30-35 runs more which could have taken the game totally beyond Australia,” he said.
“So these are things that we have to think about going to Perth, but if someone had told me before the series that I would be 1-0 up as soon we started the series, I would have taken it with both hands.”
The second Test starts on Friday in Perth.
