Kohli & Co. revel in 'sweetest' Test series victory

Kohli & Co. revel in 'sweetest' Test series victory

Over the last year and more, India have won five Test series under the captaincy of Virat Kohli - against Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand and the latest coming early on Monday morning at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai against England.

The team isn't one to normally express a lot of emotions post victory, but in Mumbai, Kohli led his players around for a victory lap. There was a sizeable crowd that came in very early in the day, and few were still coming in, but so comprehensive was India's victory that it needed them just over half an hour and eight overs to wrap things up to gain a 3-0 lead with one match to go.

The lap was as much about recognising the presence and support of the fans as it was a case of revelling. Kohli walked first with a constant smile with his teammates playing the fool around him, Jadeja even had a mock-angry celebration in front of the press box but it was all in good spirit. If you've been following this series on TV, the build-up would have caught the eye, with taglines of scores to settle leading the way. India hadn't won a Test series against England in eight years and England had been one of the unlikely teams to pip them at home back in 2012. Kohli laughed off the hype surrounding the series.

"Not at all. That's all for TRPs," he said. "I feel all these little visuals that you see on Star and TV before the series, a lot of the campaigns are pretty exciting for people to watch actually. They like those sort of things, people talking about the series and saying this one will thrash this one. As cricketers, honestly, it's far from what we think about. We understand how the game goes, and how minute these moments can be in Test cricket of winning and losing games. If you focus on that, you're already taking your mind off what you're going to do.

"These things are just to spice things up for viewers, which is great. It engages fans well, but as cricketers we should understand what to pay attention to and what not to."

Just a little while earlier though, Kohli and Ashwin couldn't stop from thinking back to the memories of 2012. As much as they refrain from reminiscing while preparing, this victory was savoured a little more than usual. "I was just having a chat with Ashwin in that victory lap, this is the ground where we lost the moment to England four years ago and lost the series mentally. But, the way the crowd came out and supported us, gave us a lot of energy to push through the tough moments," said Kohli.

Ashwin echoed similar sentiments. "Today is a very enjoyable victory. When England came here last time we lost mentally and out there in the field. It is very special to win the series here in Mumbai," he said.

Since 2012, both teams have undergone massive changes in personnel. Cook revealed how much he missed having spinners like Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann at his disposal. In 2012, Ashwin had his worst series at home, averaging 52.64 with the ball for 14 wickets at a strike-rate of 102 in four Tests. Kohli in 2014, against the same opposition suffered the worst returns in a Test series averaging just 13.4 in ten innings. By today's victory both had enough personal returns to be elated with. Kohli has 640 runs in seven innings, leading the run charts, with a personal best of 235 in this Test. Ashwin has 27 wickets, leading the wicket-taker's charts, including a 12-wicket haul in this Test. It is for those reasons that Kohli spelled it out as the sweetest win of them all.

"I was just telling Nishant (India media manager) on the way that out of the five that we've won, this is the best by far," said Kohli. He had more reasons than just that to be pleased with the victory though. India had conceded 400 after losing the toss on a pitch that was offering enough for the spinners. It was Kohli's batting that India benefitted from, as the skipper took India to a dominant position. After showing restraint in celebrating milestones over the last few months, Kohli indulged in animated celebrations, and went on to make a big one. He might have even been compelled to call it his best knock in Tests but Kohli stopped just short of it.

"I am still personally very attached to the one in Adelaide (in 2014-15) in the second innings because that was the beginning of this transition. This, as I said, has been an ongoing process, so I have only gained from the energy around in the change room and from the teammates as well. But this probably can be second-best, in my heart I still rate the one in Adelaide in the second innings higher than the ones I have scored elsewhere," he said. If the Adelaide knock was the kick-starter, the 235 at Wankhede was Kohli finding his cruise mode, with mileage. And that it came against an opposition that ran them through some tough times in the past and this series, was the icing on the cake.

"All wickets have been good cricket wickets and we have had to play good cricket to win these three Tests, and none of the matches have been surrendered by the opposition. We have had to work hard for it and the bowlers have had to work harder in this series, I feel, to get batsmen out and to control the flow of runs as well. We have used more in-out fields in this series than we did in the New Zealand series so it's pretty evident that the wickets have been better and England have applied themselves more than what New Zealand did," felt Kohli.

"It feels sweeter knowing that the last three series, they've really outplayed us. And to understand that this is a totally transformed side that we have, and to still have the belief to beat a world class Test team, being 3-0 up and one Test to go, for me as a captain and player, it is very satisfying. Especially knowing the history, as I said they've played some great cricket in India and England. They haven't given us many chances but to force them to make those mistakes is something that we can be very proud of as a team."