Brisbane: Mahendra Singh Dhoni led the Indian team to a historic win against world champions Australia in the Commonwealth Bank Series at Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday.
Not many people had given much chance to the young Indian team against Ricky Ponting's team but in the end Dhoni and his young warriors aided by ageing pro Sachin Tendulkar showed that Aussie can be beaten.
"Of course it was very important because I believe that this is the building stage of my team. Youngsters are in and we have left a few seniors out of the side and there were a lot of questions asked about whether the team can do well in Australia. They say the conditions are tough here to topple the best team in the world," Dhoni said at the post-match awards ceremony.
Dhoni admitted that the team was under pressure at the beginning of the tri-series.
"After the start the way we played the Twenty20 game, the pressure was on us especially in the batting department. The bowlers were doing well through out the series. But the way we improved our batting and the way we were backing each other and the way we were enjoying each other's success was an important point," the Indian skipper said.
He also gave full credit to Sachin Tendulkar and said that the good starts provided by him were critical to the team's success.
"We were not getting good start at the initial stage of the series but I think the way Sachin gave us the start in the last two matches, he blasted at the right time and that is what is expected of him. It is really good to have a team that is performing and young guns, fresh legs on the field, running between wickets and over all improvement. It is one of the best tours that I have been in," Dhoni added.
The other players, too, were ecstatic after the win.
"Well we have won the series. This is what we wanted to do. We are really happy and its a great feeling. It is much relief now. Hopefully everything will settle down," Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who has been in the centre of many controversies during the tour, said.
"I was not bothered about that. I was here to play some good cricket and I have played throughout the summer we have played fantastic cricket. We are really happy and I am really proud," Harbhajan replied when asked if the controversies affected him.
"It's a great feeling. Winning in Australia for the first time is great and personal performance doesn’t matter. To be honest we play for the country and we try and win for the country," Gautam Gambhir, who was the top scorer in the series but failed in the two final matches, said.
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