Ajinkya Rahane insists Team India was determined to be ruthless
Ajinkya Rahane, who was the stand-in skipper for India in the one-off Test against Afghanistan, insisted that his side were determined to be "ruthless" in their approach against the debutants in Tests. India demolished Afghanistan by an innings and 262 runs inside two days of the match in Bengaluru.
Afghanistan’s dream of a fairytale start to their Test career remained unfulfilled as their opening Test match against India turned out to be a nightmare for them. Visibly, the team lacked experience in the longest format as they struggled to get to India’s first innings total of 474 and eventually got bundled out for 109 in the first innings and for 103 in the second innings.
"This feels really special. It is always an honour to lead your country and we wanted to be ruthless," said Rahane as quoted by TOI.
Rahane was full of praise for his batting unit, especially openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay, both of whom scored centuries to help India reach a respectable total. Dhawan scored 107 off 96 balls and Vijay scored 105 off 153 balls.
"Guys like Shikhar (Dhawan) and (Murali Vijay) got those hundreds, (KL) Rahul chipped in and (Hardik) Pandya was magnificent at the end. It was important for all of us to stick to our basics, create some good habits," he said.
Rahane also had words of appreciation for Afghanistan despite their abject surrender in the match.
"But credit to Afghanistan, they were fantastic. From here on it is only upwards and onwards for them. Their seamers bowled really well, especially in the third session yesterday and I am sure they will go a long way against all opponents," Rahane said.
Rahane later called up the entire Afghan team for the victory photo along with the Indian team and also handed over the trophy to the debutants in a bid to boost their morale.
Dhawan, who won the man-of-the-match award, said he was content with his batting and insisted that he always wanted to play with a positive frame of mind despite the bowling-friendly conditions.
"I am really happy with the way I have been batting. It is good that we've finished the match early and will have a few days off to get fresh before we go to Ireland.
"It was a damp pitch, the ball of course was swinging and seaming a bit but I was clear in my mind that I wanted to play positive cricket. Things went my way and I was enjoying it as by the grace of God I became the first Indian to get a century inside a session," he said.
Dhawan also congratulated Afghanistan for its Test debut and stated that with time they would definitely improve in the traditional format of the game as they did in the limited-overs format.
"First of all I would like to congratulate Afghanistan for reaching this level. It's only their first Test and they'll keep getting better as they play more. I would also like to wish them Eid Mubarak; it is a big day for them," he said.
“It is always a learning process and once they start winning they'll do really well. Big names are already coming out of their country already and doing really well in world cricket," the left-hander added.
