Kingston: India's leg-spinner Amit Mishra revealed that head coach Anil Kumble’s advice to vary his pace on the slow wicket in the first cricket Test against the West Indies helped him.
Mishra took three wickets in both the innings while off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed seven wickets as the hosts followed on as India recorded a big win by an innings and 92 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four match Test series.
"I am lucky to be getting to work with Anil bhai. He is a legend. He has told me about the importance of batting for a tailender and how it boosts his confidence when he performs with the bat," Mishra said at a press conference.
"He shares his experience with me and tells small things which make a difference in the overall outcome of the game. In the last game the wicket was slow, so he told me to vary my pace."
Mishra said that India will look to carry on with their aggressive brand of cricket.
"When you play aggressive cricket, it means as a bowler you are looking for wickets. Aggressive cricket does not mean you go out there on the field and fight or show disrespect. Aggressive cricket means you are looking at ways to pick wickets all the time," he said.
"Sometimes you can get the main batsmen out but the tail can wag and play longer. So it becomes tough to get them out because you are concentrating on the main batsmen, and the last 3-4 wickets keep on playing.
"But we had discussed that in the dressing room, and then it was decided that we would look to bowl wicket-taking deliveries at them so that runs couldn't be scored easily either," Mishra added.
The 33-year-old said India is highly motivated after the win. "We feel highly motivated after that win. It was a collective effort and we did well all around, in batting, bowling, fielding and holding catches, everywhere," he reflected.
"But we need to forget all that now and totally concentrate on the next match. For us the effort now is in moving on from that win and yet continuing to do well in the coming match and remainder of the series."
India face the West Indies in the second Test starting on Saturday.