‘We finished in style after four days of good cricket,’ says Kumble

New Delhi, Nov 26 (ANI): Anil Kumble could not have asked for a better start as captain of the Indian Test cricket team, comfortably beating archrivals Pakistan by six wickets at his favourite ground-- the Ferozshah Kotla Stadium --here on Monday.

The Man of the Match award for his captaincy, his seven wickets and useful 24 runs in the first innings added to Kumble’s joy, who said at the post-match press conference that after playing good cricket for four days, the hosts “finished in style.”

“It’s great to start a series on a winning note. We played good cricket all four days, and finished in style,” Kumble told reporters after the match.

Commenting on his connection with the Ferozshah Kotla, where he took 10 wickets in an innings against the same team in 1999, the veteran leg spinner said that he gets a positive feeling every time he comes here, as he has been playing on this ground since his Under-19 days.

"This ground has been very special, everything had happened on this ground,” he added.

He was lavish in praise for the Indian team, and said that the boys “responded really well, and getting Pakistan out under 250 in both innings was creditable.”

“The partnerships between (VVS) Laxman and (MS) Dhoni, (Rahul) Dravid and (Wasim) Jaffer and Sachin (Tendulkar) and (Saurav) Ganguly were all very crucial,” the Karnataka player added.

He said it was hard to score runs on this wicket as the ball was staying low and slow, adding that most of the Indian batsmen are wristy players so it was not easy for them to score freely.  

However, he admitted that India did not score the way it should have in the first innings, but he was happy, for the hosts ended on a winning note.

On his own performance, Kumble said it was excellent to get into the “bowling groove right away.”

“Three months is a long break at my age and I'm very happy with my performance,” he said.

He also lauded the performance of Sachin Tendulkar, who remained unbeaten on 56.

“The hunger (for runs) and preparation he (Sachin) has is amazing,” he said.

His Pakistani counterpart Shoaib Malik admitted that they fell short by 100 runs in the second innings.  

"If you go back to the first day we didn't bat well. Our bowlers put in the effort but we were 100 runs short…If we had a target of 300, the game could have been different. If you want to win a Test you have to score 400 plus and so we'll be looking to do that (in Kolkata),” Malik said after the match.

He expressed the hope that middle-order batsmen Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf, both of whom failed to impress with the bat, would contribute more in the rest of the matches.

Malik rejected the belief that Pakistani players were still in the one-dayer mood and got out while trying to play shots which suits more to the shorter version of the game.  

“Every player has his own style of playing. Look at (Australian captain) Ricky Ponting or any one for that matter. They play according to their style and that’s the way they score,” he said.

The second Test of the three-match series will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 30 to December 4. (ANI)

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