India start their World Cup campaign with a hard-fought win. The bowlers delivered but it was the calmness and composure of the middle order that would please Rohit and the management. They were in a spot of bother and two of their experienced batters came to the fore. Australia would look back and feel they were a few runs short but having just one recognised spinner in the squad, especially in these conditions, might come back to bite them. That’s all from us. Tomorrow we have the high-flying New Zealand taking on an ever-improving Netherlands. Join us for that game. This is Akshay Maanay signing off on behalf of Saurabh Shankar and Harish. GoodBYE
Here’s Ravichandran Ashwin talking to the host broadcasters after the game:
On being picked for this tournament: It was more like a May day call, I was chilling at home, played a couple of club games but Rohit and Rahul [Dravid] had told me that if there is a situation we will come back to you, I just told them jokingly that hope you never come back to me [sm
On today’s pitch: I played a lot of cricket in Chennai. It is a quite unlike Chennai pitch, with lots of cracks. You saw how Hazlewood and the Aussies bowled in the 2nd innings. We were actually a little concerned at how it would pan out. The crowd always gets behind us here. Thankfully we lost the toss and Jadeja was on a roll after he got the ball.
On him adjusting to today’s pitch: It’s more than the pace, it’s difficult for the bowlers to bowl at a particular speed. It’s about getting the sidespin and overspin right, getting my body into position – all of these things. It’s about getting that right for me. For me it usually takes about 6-8 balls to get that right.
On how his emotions were when India were 2/3: When I saw Virat Kohli’s ball went up in the air, I ran outside the dressing room. I literally ran outside the dressing room, I was like thinking wake me up when it’s all over. It’s a World Cup game against Australia so you don’t expect anything easy. It’s a big game and when you are shot for 199, do you think you expected us to coast home. I ran back into the dressing room and the crowd erupted. I stayed in the same place for the entire game. My legs are paining now actually.
On how his performance will be analysed by everyone after today: I need to pick my Whatsapp messages and go on Twitter to find out. But I need to stay out of social media [smiles]. The day I was picked, everyone near my area said you will win us the World Cup. I was like dude… [smiles]
As long as I keep performing for India, I will be happy. I have played for 13 years and want to continue to deliver.
Rohit Sharma | India captain: Pretty exciting. Good feeling to come out on top. It was a good game to start the tournament for us. I thought it was magnificent, especially the fielding and we saw the effort from everyone today, conditions like this it would be tough. Our bowlers used the conditions perfectly and we knew there would be assistance for everyone, even the seamers got some reverse, the spinners bowled in the nice areas and all in all it was a great effort. I was (nervous), you don’t want to start your innings like that, credit to the Aussies bowlers as they bowled in good areas but some loose shots as well, when you have that kind of target you want to score as much as possible in the powerplay, but credit to Virat and KL on how they went about the chase. That is going to be the challenge for us as a team, moving to different conditions and adapting, whoever suits the conditions will have to come and do the job. Chennai never disappoints, they love their cricket and for them to sit in that heat and come out and cheer for the team says a lot.
Pat Cummins | Australia captain: At least 50-odd (short with the bat). It was tough, trying to defend anything under 200.. It was a really good bowling attack and their spinners made it tough work out there. I wasn’t too upset (with just two spinners), we had 20 overs of spin but some more runs on the board would have made the difference. I have already forgotten about it (the drop catch), it happens, 4/10 would have been a dream start. He (Hazlewood) is a class bowler and poses a lot of questions, stays in that area and was fantastic today. We have to review this one, absolutely a tough surface, but what if we are up against it then how would we do differently. Just one game out of nine, not too much to ponder about but there are some areas we need to get better. No (in hindsight would he have changed his decision at the toss?).
KL Rahul | Player of the Match: (On walking out at 2/3) Quite honestly not a lot of conversation, I thought I’d get a good shower and get a break. I was just trying to get my breath back. Virat said there’s a bit in the wicket, so play like Test cricket for a while. There was a bit of help for the pacers with the new ball, and then the spinners also. In the last 15-20 overs, dew played a part and that helped quite a bit. The ball also skidded on better. However, it was a bit two-paced, it wasn’t the easiest of wickets to bat on and it wasn’t flat as well. It was a good cricket wicket, bit for the batters and the bowlers. That’s what you get in the south of India, especially Chennai. (On the last six) I hit it too well, I just calculated how to get to a 100 in the end. The only way was a four and a six, but no qualms on not getting to that hundred.