A sweet first for captain Rahul

Kuldeep Yadav with the Player-of-the-Match award.
| Photo Credit: AFP

It was a sweet first for K.L. Rahul as he captained India to victory for the first time in Tests in the opening match against Bangladesh here. The margin of victory — 188 runs — was comprehensive, but it didn’t come easy, for the home side put up a spirited fight in the second innings.

“You are never going to get a win that is easy,” said Rahul, who had also led in the Johannesburg Test in January against South Africa that India lost. “We have played enough cricket to understand that there will be phases when the opposition plays well and we need to respect that.

“I am very proud that throughout the Test our energy and intensity were really high. We hadn’t played Test cricket for a while and there was a worry coming in about how the bodies would react… spending so much time in the park while maintaining our intensity and focus. We did that really well and that’s very pleasing.”

Bowling Bangladesh out for 150 in the first innings was key, felt Rahul. “It gave us a lot of time. If Bangladesh had got 300, 350 this game was headed for a draw. We would have tried to make a game out of it, but it would have been hard. Getting them out early in the first innings really set us up.”

The 30-year-old felt it was a near-complete performance. “There are areas where we can improve, but I’ll take the win. Everyone performed and did their jobs. Kuldeep [Yadav] and [Mohd.] Siraj bowled really well in the first innings.”

Cheteshwar Pujara, the Most Valuable Player.
| Photo Credit:
AFP

“In the second innings, Axar [Patel] bowled very well but Ashwin and Kuldeep kept up the pressure. Umesh [Yadav] and Siraj too. Overall it was good and this is what we wanted to do as a team. Batters who got starts and bowlers who got a couple of wickets will be looking forward to the next Test,” added Rahul, who scored 22 and 23, and rushed to practise at the nets immediately after his media duties.