India skipper KL Rahul expressed that his team worked really hard to register a comprehensive 188-run win against Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series on Sunday.
Needing four Bangladesh wickets on the final day to take a 1-0 lead in the series, India bundled up the hosts for 324 in 113.2 overs.
This was after Bangladesh offered dogged resistance on the fourth day morning session on Saturday with Zakir Hasan (100) hitting a patient century, while Najmul Hossain Shanto (67) scored a fifty.
"Hard fought Test match and we had to really work hard for this win. Really happy we did that," Rahul, who registered his first Test win as skipper, said at the post-match presentation.
"It (the pitch) did flatten out, didn't worry us. Looked like the batters were batting comfortably. Getting runs was hard for the first three days. The way their (Bangladesh) openers batted, we had to work hard."
Rahul said India wanted to turn things around after losing the ODI series 1-2 to Bangladesh.
"We've been here for a while. The one-day series didn't go as we wanted. Our intensity was really high. We know no victory comes high."
Rahul also praised his batting unit, especially Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant.
"We batted well in the first innings as well. It was a job well done by Shreyas and Puji (Pujara), even Pant's counter-attack. Really happy for them (Gill and Pujara), they utilised the opportunity.
He also lavished praise on the bowling unit.
"Very pleased with the way we bowled. The pitch wasn't really assisting the bowlers, but they found something. Umesh (Yadav) bowled a couple of great spells and brought us back into the game. We've built this attack over the years. They are showing what quality they have," Rahul said.
Kuldeep Yadav, who won the man-of-the-match award for his career-best match figures of 8 for 113 besides a dogged 40 in India's first innings, said it wasn't easy to pick up wickets in the second innings as the pitch had flattened out.
"To be very honest I am happy with the performance, both with bat and ball. In the first innings, the pitch was quicker than in the second innings. There was some pace in the first innings, but the second innings was very challenging," he said.
"It was slower. so I was trying to work on my rhythm and bowl more quicker. Probably more revs on the ball make it challenging for the batters and it is difficult to step down and drive as well (why wrist spinners have that extra edge).
"I just worked on my rhythm, tried to be more aggressive and it's helped me a lot. The action is the same, just trying to be aggressive in the rhythm (about working on his bowling)," Kuldeep added.
The second Test is scheduled to be played in Mirpur on the 22nd of December.
