Galle: Anil Kumble was all praise for his teammates after Sunday’s victory. The Indian captain felt it would put the side in good stead ahead of the series decider in Colombo.

The following are excerpts

India’s comeback

I was confident we would come back. One look at the dressing room shows you how much potential this team has. Overall we played very well in this Test match.

Sehwag’s batting in the Test

He’s a very good player and the way he scored in both the innings was great. Also Gautam’s (Gambhir) contributions, the partnerships... Getting 201 in a total of 329 is something amazing. Taking that forward into the second innings is never easy but he batted brilliantly and gave us another strong start.

Regrouping after the loss in Colombo

We’ve done this in the past. This team has been through ups and downs and it has a fair amount of experience and quality. There’s no doubt that we would regroup and come back hard. I’m really proud of the way we played in this Test.

If the team got enough time to settle down

People generally say that we don’t start well and the results probably show that. I have no complaints about the time we’ve spent in Sri Lanka... We had enough time and prepared well, but it was one of those games where nothing went right for us. The way we’ve come back after four days is amazing. This group has shown amazing resilience not just once but time and time again.

The turning point

The opening partnerships in both the innings… Viru getting a double hundred and Gautam getting us off to fantastic starts in both innings was very important. Also the way Harbhajan bowled in both innings… How Ishant (Sharma) and Zaheer (Khan) bowled today was amazing. On this pitch to crank it up like that from a 19-year old was something special. To get three of the top order wickets and on a fourth-day wicket like this... Everybody saw what he is capable of. There is quality in this team and it augurs really well going into the last Test.

If he thought 307 was a good target

I was never worried. Nothing is enough. When you are batting you want to get the most number of runs and get the opposition out. You can’t say 300-350 is enough, but on this wicket if you have 300 and the way our new-ball bowlers bowled was amazing. Getting three wickets within 40 minutes was critical and put Sri Lanka totally on the back foot.

On whether he spoke to the bowlers

We had the runs and not many teams have chased 300 in the fourth inning. The statistics in Galle showed 165-odd being the highest second-innings score achieved while chasing… so it was important that we went in with some positive outlook. The way Ishant and Zaheer started was brilliant.

The referral system

It definitely requires a discussion. There are some areas which really help the umpires, but there are some where it takes a long time and there is doubt about whether someone looking at a TV can take a call. The obvious doubt is that if it is referred it would turn out be better. If the umpire makes a mistake of giving somebody out lbw when it is obvious he has nicked it, then those decisions will help. But giving lbw decisions, it becomes a bit of an ambiguous stature. It’s still early, but after we finish the series we will sit down and have a discussion.

If the middle-order is a bit of a worry

Everybody has got starts. Sachin (Tendulkar) was batting brilliantly in the second innings and Rahul (Dravid) too. Sourav (Ganguly) spent some time at the SSC but didn’t get the opportunity here. Otherwise (VVS) Laxman has been in the runs so it’s not really a worry.

On if he’s happy with the performance

You cannot keep looking at one individual to say he can do better. Everyone can do better. Overall if all of us had done better maybe we would have finished the game in three days. There is definitely improvement we need to look at as a team and that will be the focus.

On whether India are the favourites

It’s 1-1 and we need to assess the conditions at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium. Then we will take a call. We’re really confident of putting up a good show and if we can repeat this performance we will get a good result.

Ishant’s spell

In these conditions when he’s bowling at 140 kmph... I didn’t see the speeds… The way the ’keeper was collecting the ball you could sense that he was in good rhythm and that’s a good sign.

How the top order batted against Murali

As the series goes on you try and figure out the best possible ways to handle the spinners. They’re of top quality and Mendis is a mystery to some of us. But Sehwag has shown that you can get runs against the spinners.