Vidarbha captain Faiz Fazal said his team showed a lot of character and fighting spirit to retain the Irani Cup.
“It was tough to score 280 on the fifth day pitch. We learnt a lot from how (Ajinkya) Rahane and (Hanuma) Vihari played yesterday (Friday). They played risk-free cricket. “We wanted to take a cue from their performances.
“Our boys batted really well and showed lot of character. We were under pressure as I got out cheaply, but Atharva Taide played a matured innings and Ganesh Satish batted beautifully on the last day,” he said.
Pat for Karnewar
The captain singled out all-rounder Akshay Karnewar for praise saying that his first innings century was crucial in the context of the game. “All through this season we had some outstanding performances and Karnewar’s century in the first innings was crucial and no wonder he won the Man-of-the-Match award,” he said.
Rest of India captain Rahane said the batting collapse in the first innings was the reason for his team’s defeat. “I think we should have scored more than the 330 we got in the first innings. We were cruising at 171 for one and to lose the next nine wickets on the first day was pretty bad,” he said.