India captain Virat Kohli feels man- of-the-series Hardik Pandya has emerged as the "biggest asset" for the team after their convincing 4-1 win in the five-match series against Australia.
Kohli had special praise for all-rounder Pandya, who scored 222 runs with the bat and also picked up six wickets to emerge as the player-of-the-tournament.
"Hardik Pandya is the biggest asset (from the series). Selection dilemma is always a good headache for me as a captain because its always better to have plenty to pick from and take the best 11 possible," the skipper said.
Kohli also praised the pace bowling duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah for their outstanding performances in the series.
"Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar) and (Jasprit) Bumrah have been outstanding for us. When Umesh (Yadav) and (Mohammad) Shami got their opportunity they were pretty good as well. And those two wristspinners (Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal) in the middle overs were too very good," he said.
After leading the team to their sixth consecutive bilateral series victory, a content Kohli said he was satisfied wit the overall performance of the team.
"I thought it was a really convincing series win. We've ticked all the boxes. We have been put under pressure, and we have come back four times to win four games. lots of positives to come out of this series," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony here.
Asked about how difficult it is to keep the team motivated for an inconsequential game, Kohli said: "The management has played a role in that as well. I think it's become second nature to the players (to keep themselves motivated despite already winning the series)."
Player-of-the-tournament Pandya said there is a long way for him to go and there is always scope for improvement for a cricketer in his career.
"There's always scope of improvement in everything I do. I always believe I can improve day by day. Working hard on my fitness, to be fit for every game, because it's not easy to do both skills," he said.
Man-of-the-match Rohit Sharma said he always believes in keeping things simple.
"I've always kept it very simple. Not to complicate things too much.
“Since I've started opening, I've always kept things simple," he said.