Few minutes had passed after India secured a memorable win in the third Test against the West Indies at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium to seal the four-match series 2-0. The Indian team was yet to head back to the dressing room, look back at their impressive performance and feel thoroughly satisfied with their efforts. From being 126-5 to losing the entire third day’s play due to rain, the team overcame the trying situations to register an emphatic 237-run triumph when Ishant Sharma, the most experienced player in the team with 71 Test caps, reminded that the job was not over. The team that believes in dominating their opposition and exhibit positive brand of cricket in any given circumstances does not want to rest before the goal is complete. It was in February this year that India lost their top ranking to Australia and a win in the fourth and final Test at Port of Spain (August 18-22) will help them reclaim the top spot. “We have won the series, but the fourth Test is still to be played. Test cricket is such a format where you can never be complacent. We lead 2-0, but if win the next match, we will be the No.1 Test team in the world and there can be nothing better than that. This is a young team and we want to reach there (top spot). When we play the fourth Test, we will look to dominate, score runs, bowl the opposition out and win the Test,” the lanky fast bowler told BCCI.TV.

Ishant said that the morale of the team was high despite losing 90 overs of play. “We had this belief that we could win the Test. The wicket was slightly damp and the batsmen felt that there was some purchase for the bowlers. You saw how Bhuvneshwar Kumar ran through the West Indies line-up in just one spell and got five wickets in the first innings. If one bowler can do it, it is possible for others to do it too. We were confident.” His bowling partner, Mohammed Shami who picked 3/15 said that bowlers had set a target of 80 overs on the final day to dismiss West Indies again in the second innings. As it turned out, India wrapped up the West Indies’ innings in 47.3 overs for just 108 runs. “In both the Tests, we lost a day’s play due to rain. The bowling group showed a lot of patience and discipline. We wanted to hit the right lengths and were ready to be patient to get those wickets. “The plan was to score quickly and declare early. We wanted to bowl about 80 overs and discussed that in the team meeting. The results are out there for everyone to see as we stuck to our plans and executed them very well.”

Ishant also lauded Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s spell after lunch on the fourth day that brought India back into the game. “You saw how Bhuvneshwar Kumar ran through the line-up in just one spell and got five wickets in the first innings. If one bowler can do it, it is possible for others to do it too. We were confident. If you have to win a Test, you have to take 20 wickets and in the second innings, all the bowlers chipped in.”