Kohli praises Ashwin, Saha contributions in series win

India captain Virat Kohli has said the runs scored by R Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha in the lower middle-order are the biggest positives to emerge from India’s 2-0 Test series win in the West Indies. Ashwin, promoted to No. 6 in the first three Tests in order for India to play five specialist bowlers, scored centuries in Antigua and St Lucia. Saha made useful 40s in the first two Tests and a maiden Test hundred after coming in to bat at 126 for 5 in the third Test in St Lucia.

“It’s been pretty good for us, a lot of positives, a lot of things we wanted to improve on we have,” Kohli said after a still-damp outfield forced the final day’s play in the fourth Test at Queen’s Park Oval to be called off. “For me the biggest positive was Saha getting runs in the lower order plus Ashwin coming good at No. 6.

“Those were areas that were very important for us to solidify and we have done that in this series. I’m pretty happy. I hope we can keep on making that aspect of our team stronger because when you are in a tough situation in Test matches those are the positions that matter a lot. We’ve seen teams who have done well and won consistently, their lower order has contributed, especially the bowlers.

“These are important runs that take the momentum away from the opposite team. That’s something we wanted to work hard on. We have done that and got the results in this series.”

Despite the successes of the lower-order batsmen in the first three Tests, India went into the final Test with six batsmen, a wicketkeeper, and only four bowlers. Asked why they had done so, Kohli said they were looking to try this …

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