India pool around a sign that says "Champions", with their series trophy, with plenty of people in Indore still sticking around to watch them enjoy themselves. They have been outstanding, packed the stadium on all five days of the Test. And this is why - The Test championship mace is being presented to Virat Kohli by Sunil Gavaskar
"I've got a few Man of the Match awards, so have the boys. This is much more special. The last time India got the mace, I was watching on Tv. The key right now is maintaining our game. We're working really hard on the areas needing improvement and we've been able to correct the wrongs quickly and we'd like to continue that and give the people what they want to see"
The team poses with the pace, signalling No. 1 with their finger. The support staff too join in. Flashes go off. Smiles shine bright. That's about as good a note as any to sign off. Thank you for your company and your wealth of opinion. Your jokes as well, they add to the fun when we're feeling harried by Ashwin and Jadeja bowling together and finishing an over in under a minute (#Ouch). We hope you'll come back when the ODI series starts against New Zealand on Sunday in Dharamsala, but for now, it's adios.
"Absolutely, couldn't have asked for anything better. The bowlers have responded beautifully every time we've been in pressure. Someone has always put up their hand. And that's the difference, this team is up, we get wickets in bunches, we have that attitude and we do get the results," Virat Kohli says, "We made it clear that the bowlers deserve to be in this position and it's time they express themselves. Don't hesitate in playing your shots. If you see Pujara hitting a fast bowler back over his head, it is the best example of expressing yourself. This is a proper team series win. It wasn't just one individual. You can leave Ash aside, he is not to be mentioned in the XI. Jadeja with the bat in the first game, Saha in the second, Rohit with those crucial knocks. We keen his numbers, we discuss his Man of the Series awards after every series. No. 6. No. 7... Credit to him I wish him well"
"That's fair, we knew coming in, it was going to be tough. We wanted to show better cricket than we did, but full credit to India. They outplayed us in all areas and we have to weather these wounds," Williamson says. "I suppose in this match, we can look at a number of areas we didn't do too well. India from the start outplayed us, getting such a big total. And we knew it would be a tough task batting on this pitch last. They're No. 1 in the world, a fantastic effort. The beauty of it is that we have a young side, and being exposed against the best bowling attack in the world is that we can learn. It's a shame we haven't done so quickly enough. It's tough to swallow, but the opportunity to learn playing against some of the best bowlers in the world in these conditions is a big thing"
5.00 pm R Ashwin is the Man of the Match "First things first, I would like to thank the crowd of Indore, coming out in large numbers. It felt like a Test from the 90s. It was a wicket where you had to work hard, be patient. there was a little bit of help outside the off stump, in terms of footmarks. Second innings, they helped us out with their shots. The reason we were slow was because he wanted to get them driving. There was not much bounce to get catches at short leg. I knew Boult was coming, and he'd give me footmarks, so I wanted them lunging out. I have to give special metion ot Shami, Bhuvi and Umesh, they got us a lot of wickets with reverse swing and Jaddu is a perfect foil. Virat had told me he was trying to rotate the bowlers, and it did help, Jaddu got the wicket of Guptill. I feel really good about myself and my confidence is sky high," he finishes up and goes to collect his seventh Man of the Series award in 14 series 4.45 pm New Zealand have lost nine wickets in one session. It's been a trend in the series; when they've let things go, they've let it go big time. And somewhere in there is a compliment to the Indian team. They've got the men to make that first incision, and then they make sure to burst through the gates. In Kolkata, they showed they could stay patient when those incisions didn't come quickly enough. And it was the fast bowlers doing the damage there. In Indore, at the venue's first Test, in front of crowds numbering above 18,000 per day, they were utterly dominant. India have sealed their place as No. 1 in the world with a 3-0 whitewash.
Twenty seven wickets for Ashwin in this series. Three-seventy-three runs for Pujara. Double-hundred from Kohli. Battling 188 from Rahane. Ticks would be crawling all over Anil Kumble's little black book.
Prashant : "Most wickets after first 39 Tests: 220- R ASHWIN 216- C Grimmett 208- Waqar Younis 206- Dennis Lillee 204- Dale Steyn"
"I think everyone has contributed, specially when we talk about the batting, starting from the top order, and contributions from the lower orde,r Ashwin, Saha, Jadeja. And then the bowlers, the fast bowlers too. It was a team effort," Pujara says, "The plan was to get as many runs as possible. So I thought I had to accelerate and we just wanted to bat one and half sessoins. Gautam was batting really well, I was asking him what to do, how to accelerate. It was a pleasure to watch. I am looking forward to the England series, First Test match at Rajkot [his home] just like Indore. And here I would like to thank to crowd for their massive support"
"I need to get the scan done later this evening [about the shoulder]," Gambhir says, "The important thing was intent, we wanted to get quick runs so we can have enough runs and overs to get them out. When you come into international cricket with runs under your belt in four-day games, it gives you a lot of confidence. We wanted to play normally in the first hour, but after that we wanted to get four and five per over which was not that difficult with the kind of fields they had for us. Pujara played unbelievably well. Making up after missing out two years, and getting a half-century in four years, it was sweet"
New Zealand, though, would feel quite glum to finish like this. They've battled hard against the heat, against high quality spin, all the way up to his last session of play where they just fell all over their feet. Awful shots. Spread out fields in the morning in an attempt to stem the runs, but that only enabled the batsmen to feel no pressure whatsoever. Ross Taylor's form has crumbled, and it was only in January that he smacked the highest score made by a visiting batsman in Australia. Kane Williamson has been worked over. Their spinners could not inflict as much pressure. There were some things that went against them; that India were able to get balls changed to get reverse swing and they couldn't and that some marginal umpiring decisions went against them. I can't quite see when they play Tests next - maybe at home against Bangladesh later in the year. The break should help them forget this and they need to forget this,
TA Boult c & b Ashwin 4 (35m 27b 1x4 0x6) SR: 14.81
Shantanu Kaushi: "Thats how to bat to save a test match.Too late but right way" They've got to last another half an hour to go to the fifth day. And with Ashwin and Jadeja bowling, there will be plenty of overs
END OF OVER:44 | 4 Runs | NZ: 153/9
- BJ Watling23 (64b)
- Trent Boult4 (22b)
- Ravindra Jadeja16-3-45-2
- Ravichandran Ashwin13-2-59-6
Edward: "Boults played Ashwin better than anyone #positives"
Here's Jadeja. So change of ends for both
END OF OVER:43 | 5 Runs | NZ: 149/9
- Trent Boult4 (22b)
- BJ Watling19 (58b)
- Ravichandran Ashwin13-2-59-6
- Umesh Yadav8-4-13-1
Ashwin's back
END OF OVER:42 | 1 Run | NZ: 144/9
- BJ Watling14 (54b)
- Trent Boult4 (20b)
- Umesh Yadav8-4-13-1
- Ravindra Jadeja15-3-41-2
moves around the stumps, with two men on the boundary square