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Courtesy of fifties from Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, India not only clinched the ODI series against Australia but also became the No.1 ranked ODI team in the world. Aaron Finch's century on his comeback to the side went in vain as Australia lost for the 11th consecutive time in completed away ODIs.
Man of the match Hardik Pandya:
"It feels good. Almost through but I would want to finish the match next time. I saw the promotion as an opportunity rather than a surprise. I wanted to target the left-arm spinner. When I got the sixes, I knew that I could play a few dot balls as well. I try to contribute in every way I can. I want to get better, there's always scope for improvement."
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Indian captain Virat Kohli:
"They batted really well, but we knew that if we got two, three wickets, we could pull it back. I was thinking this was a 330-340 wicket. The bowlers stood up when we wanted them to. That's been the feature of this team. Coming back from difficult situations, giving us more belief that we can do it again and again from any tough situation that we are put in. Wrist spinners need to be backed. I felt they were 35-40 runs short. That gave us a lot of confidence.
"Rohit and Rahane were very good and then Hardik Pandya, only he can do what he does when he bats like that. He (Pandya) is a star. He possesses ability with the bat, ball and in the field as well. We have been wanting a guy like that for the past five, six years. A really explosive all-rounder is what we were missing and he's giving us that balance. A great asset for Indian cricket and I wish him all the best for the future.
"We may give opportunities for people from now, but all 15 guys know that we have got to be ruthless once we step onto the field. I know it won't happen every single day, but at least that mindset is there. Credit to the whole squad for the series win, but the journey stops only after the final game."
Australian captain Steve Smith:
"I thought we set it up beautifully with the bat to launch at the back end, but I thought the Indian bowlers executed really well and we executed poorly. We couldn't get the boundaries. 330+ might have been a different result, but credit to India. Hardik was magnificent and Rohit and Jinks (Rahane) were fabulous too.
"I thought Finchy was magnificent, it was a great hundred. The pitch was pretty much the same for both teams until 35 overs, it did slow down towards the end. We weren't good enough to get the boundaries and get the score we needed."
Here are the reactions from the cricket fraternity:
Sachin Tendulkar:
Suresh Raina:
VVS Laxman:
Dean Jones:
Harbhajan Singh:
Virender Sehwag:
Robin Uthappa:
Subramanian Badrinath:
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