Stand-in Indian captain for the match, Ajinkya Rahane has expressed praise for his batsmen, as they set up India's big win against Afghanistan on Friday. Rahane went on to the extent of saying that the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Murli Vijay and Hardik Pandya were absolutely magnificent with the way they batted.
Shikhar Dhawan got a breathtaking hundred, Vijay too, despite looking iffy at the start of the innings, reached a ton and Hardik Pandya played a fine knock of 71, to push India's eventual score in the first innings of 474. It was always going to be an uphill task for Afghanistan's highly inexperienced batting line up.
After the match, Ajinkya was quoted saying, “This feels really special. It is always an honour to lead your country and we wanted to be ruthless, 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, one of nicest guys in Indian Cricket, also had good things to say about his opponent for the game. This match was never about who wins and loses, anyway.
“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,”
The man of the match award after the game went to Shikhar Dhawan, who absolutely hammered the bowlers on the first morning for a 107 from just 96 balls.
A happy Dhawan after the match said, “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,”
Dhawan, much like his captain, congratulated the Afghanistan team to have reached this far. He said, “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,”
“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,”
(Inputs from Hindustan Times)
