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It was a hard fight, says Dravid
December 14, 2005 14:48 IST
Indian captain Rahul Dravid [Images] lauded the players for their "good team effort" to win the second cricket Test against Sri Lanka [Images] on Wednesday but said they could not afford to be complacent as there was a lot of cricket to be played yet.
"It was a good effort. It was a hard fight and we played very good cricket. The boys stood for the count but we can't slip-up as there is still a lot of cricket left," Dravid said after India won the match by 188 runs to take 1-0 lead in the three-Test series in New Delhi.
Dravid said Indians gave shining performances on all the five days at the Feroze Shah Kotla ground.
"Sachin played a fantastic innings (on the first day), Anil (Kumble) brought us back on the second day then (Irfan) Pathan batted well too. So it's a credit to the boys," he said.
The Bangalorean described the wicket as very good but said it was a bit difficult for the pacers.
"The wicket was very good. But it was a bit low for fast bowlers," he said.
Sri Lanka skipper Atapattu said it was a disappointing loss but they will lift their game for the third Test beginning in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
"Yes, it is disappointing. We were doing well till tea on the day two but we missed the trick from there on. It demands us to lift our game in the next match," he said.
Atapattu, who scored 67 runs, singled out Mahela Jayawardene [Images] for his effort also of an equal number of runs. "Mahela and I batted well," he said.
"The wicket was not as bad as it appeared before the match," he said.