New Delhi: Following India’s thumping win over New Zealand in Mumbai, former all-rounder Irfan Pathan lavished praise on Virat Kohli, saying he is the best Test captain the country has ever had.
Irfan made the comment on Twitter after the Kohli-led side thrashed the Black Caps by a huge margin, 372 runs, to seal the Test at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
As I have said earlier and saying it again @imVkohli is the best Test Captain India have ever had! He’s at the top with the win percentage of 59.09 per cent and the second spot is at 45 per cent, tweeted Irfan.
The victory in Mumbai also meant that India registered their 14th consecutive series win at home and 11th straight under Kohli’s leadership.
With the home series win, India bagged 12 points and climbed to number one position in the World Test Championship 2021/23 standings. Now they have 124 points and are ahead of New Zealand who have 121 rating points.
Australia, who are set to start the Ashes series from December 8, are in third position with 108 points, while England are in fourth position, just one point behind Australia.
They are followed by Pakistan (92), South Africa (88), Sri Lanka (83), West Indies (75), Bangladesh (49), and Zimbabwe (31).
India will now head to South Africa for three Tests and three ODIs, beginning December 26.
Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin on Monday applauded the 10-wicket haul taken by New Zealand left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel during the second Test at the Wankhede Stadium, adding that destiny played its part as well.
On Saturday, the second day of the Test, Patel became just the third bowler to take all 10 wickets in a Test innings, finishing with figures of 10/119 in 47.5 over. Patel’s historic performance and overall match haul of 14 wickets was not enough to help New Zealand avoid a 372-run loss and lose the series 1-0 on Monday.
Before I get to what I did, it was a wonderful performance by Ajaz. It doesn’t spin all the time in Wankhede, and he used the seam and put the ball in the right places, and there was a bit of destiny involved in his 10-for too, said Ashwin in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Ashwin was adjudged ‘Player of the series’ for picking 14 wickets at an average of 11.35 and making 70 runs with the bat in three innings. I think I’ve got 10 (Player of the Series awards now). I enjoyed that pitch, (it) spun and had a bit more bite. I enjoyed Wankhede honestly, and everyday there was something new, and I could challenge both edges.
Asked about his spin partners at Wankhede, Axar Patel and Jayant Yadav, Ashwin was in praise of both.
Jayant and I have a good relationship from 2014, when he flew down to Chennai from Haryana to pick my brains. Axar, I’ve been playing for a while at Kings and Delhi Capitals.
The 35-year-old concluded by saying that he would like to win a Test series in South Africa, which is also India’s next assignment starting from December 26.
For starters, I’d look to play a part in South Africa and finish off with a series win. We haven’t done that before, and hopefully we can do it this time.