India may be on an 18-Test unbeaten streak but skipper Virat Kohli feels it is not even a "tiny bit" of what his team aims to achieve given the foundation that has been laid. India won their ninth Test of the year to stretch an unbeaten run to 18 and wrote a plethora of records, including notching up their biggest-ever series victory over England.
"As a team we have had a very good 2016 apart from two setbacks. One was the ODI series in Australia and second was World T20. We won the Asia Cup, ODI series against New Zealand in India and won all the Test series. It's been a memorable 2016 for the team and that's something I am really proud of.
"To be part of such a good year and such a good season, especially with the team in transition is something we can be really proud of," said Kohli.
"But this is just the foundation that's been laid for us to carry on for lot many years. It's just the beginning. It's nothing that we want to achieve, it's not even a tiny bit of that. We understand where we want to go and hopefully the guys can keep putting this kind of effort and take the team where it belongs," he added.
Summing up the team's performance in the five-match series, Kohli said his side ticked most of the boxes.
"I would say it's a complete performance. From the time we were put under pressure in the first game to coming back and winning the next four Tests. We lost four tosses, including Rajkot but won three games out of that is very satisfying. As a captain, I feel it's a complete series for us. Everyone contributed at different times, especially the lower-order's contribution is something that stands out for me in this series."
Citing examples of Kl Rahul and Karun Nair, Kohli said, "You can see their performance for yourself, especially Karun. Replacing a batsman like Ajinkya Rahane, who has been performing consistently in the last two years in Test cricket. To walk in and score a triple hundred. There couldn't have been a bigger statement. "It shows that the next generation will keep getting smarter looking at others, learning how it is done.”
Asked about the timing of the declaration, the Indian captain explained: "It's a very tricky situation to give yourself 20 more overs, if they haven't bowled you out for in almost 200 overs. You know you don't feel like saying...This guy is close to 300 and it doesn't happen every day. It's not like he is taking 10 overs to do it. He was hitting sixes, fours. He was getting us a bigger lead. So it was a perfect scenario where he got us to a stage where we couldn't have batted again and at the same time, we had enough overs. If the wicket was doing enough, then those overs were good enough. If we have five bowlers, we should be able to knock teams off in 90-plus overs. That's exactly what we did. When we've played abroad, most of the teams have given us batting on the last day. With 90 overs and a target that is achievable. It's all how you go about that particular situation. Good thing was Karun really stepped it up close to his milestone and he didn't take too long to get there.
“After the first session I'm sure you guys weren't talking about all this. You would have said that 'oh it's going to be a boring draw, nothing is happening' and suddenly things happen. In Test cricket, a team can lose in one session and that's exactly what happened today," he said.