Steve Smith was a proud captain at the press conference here on Saturday.
Having notched up his first Test win in Asia, the Australia captain said the one-sided result would be right on top of the achievements scroll.
“Right up there. We haven’t won a game here in 4,502 days. I’ve been told those facts.
“I think we were fortunate to post 260 after winning the toss on this wicket. I thought Sok [Steve O’Keefe] was absolutely amazing. He was well supported by Nathan Lyon and the two fast bowlers as well,’’ he said.
When asked about the “designer pitch’’ here, Smith said: “I think it was certainly a wicket that would more likely suit the Indian players. They prepared a wicket that actually played into our hands. It would be interesting to see what they will come up with in Bangalore.’’
On his second innings century, Smith said: “It’s going to be right up there. I obviously rode my luck throughout the innings. I was pleased to score a second innings hundred in India.”
Talking about Lyon and O’Keefe’s bowling, Smith said, “I think Nathan and Steve hit the right length consistently. If you are challenging the defence and if you’re able to beat the bat on both sides, you have a real good chance to take wickets on this wicket.
“But it’s only one game [done]. It’s a four-match series and we’d like to win the series. But it’s going to be a tough road, we know India are going to come back incredibly hard,” he added.
He also touched upon the lessons learnt from the Sri Lanka tour. “Here we probably kept the foot on the throat. When we got ourselves in positions to win in Sri Lanka, we let the opposition get back into the game. In this Test, we didn’t let India back in the game after the first innings.”
