Mumbai, Dec 6 : India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni termed the victory over Sri Lanka in the third Test, which propelled them to the number one ranking in Test cricket, as a dream come true for himself and his teammates.
The 28-year-old wicketkeeper batsman however, admitted that it would be difficult to stay at the top for too long and that is also not because they would start performing badly but for the very reason that India plays only two Tests in the next six months (against Bangladesh in January next year).
The captain-cool attributed India's climb to the top of the Test rankings to not putting too much pressure on themselves by thinking about the rankings.
'What we actually do is to try and play every game well and ratings take care of themselves. It was a constant process for the last 18 months. Whatever Test cricket we have played we have played really well.
'I think it's a team effort,' Dhoni said while speaking to reporters after his side had swamped Sri Lanka by an innings and 24 runs in the third Test to win the series 2-0 and become the world's best Test team.
Dhoni also voiced his dissatisfaction about India not playing more Test cricket and claimed that India playing only two Test matches in the next six months was a concern.
He, however, assured that the team will be celebrating this feat.
'We would celebrate the feat rather than think about anything else.
At the moment we would like to just be with the achievement, which is because of the whole team,' he said.
The Indian captain also thanked the stars as during the journey to the top more or less the same cricketers played for the last some months without injuries
.
'There were not too many injuries and the core of the team remained the same. We always played with the best squad available.
It was also about planning and executing them well.
'It's the result of hard work put in by individuals. It's a constant process.' The Indian captain, who himself cracked a brilliant hundred in the just concluded Test, felt that whenever the chips were down India has been lucky to have individuals in the team who stood up and said 'I will be the person who would do well in the game.
'Also a settled dressing room atmosphere with all players genuinely concerned about other players contributed a lot towards our playing good cricket and thereby reaching the peak.' Dhoni also said the players were confident of finishing the Test early on the fifth day and with Kumar Sangakkara falling early they knew they could polish off the tail, which they did in just 35 minutes on the final day.
The home team skipper also praised his team's bowling and fielding efforts, specially those of the bowlers on lifeless tracks.
'It was tough for our bowlers who bowled their hearts out. They tried to get reverse swing going. Spinners came into action and even part timers got valuable breakthrough. We have seen bowlers improving over a period of time. Especially in this game Zaheer Khan
, the way he bowled in the second innings. There was not much help for the fast bowlers and he got five wickets.
'Even in the first two Tests bowlers did well. In Ahmedabad I only said the bowlers could have done better. The catching has been exceptional. Can't really complain about the fielding. We have never been quick on the field; that's part of our cricket,' he added
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