Bangalore: India’s stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane said Friday his side were determined to be ‘ruthless’ in their approach after the hosts demolished Afghanistan by an innings and 262 runs inside two days in their debut Test match here.
”This feels really special. It is always an honour to lead your country and we wanted to be ruthless,” said Rahane. He was also full of praise for the batting unit, especially openers Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay.
“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,” Rahane pointed out.
As a whole, both the batting and bowling units did very well. We did everything in the right fashion
Ajinkya Rahane
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 Thursday and I am sure they will go a long way against all opponents,” asserted the stand-in India skipper.
Dhawan, who smashed 107 off 96 balls to win the man of the match award, said he is enjoying every bit of his batting at the moment. “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,” said Dhawan.