India captain Sourav Ganguly singled out Irfan Pathan for special praise, saying the left-arm speedster's spell with the new ball was a key factor in the team's huge victory over Zimbabwe in the first Test.
"We bowled well in the second innings. It is a good sign that Irfan got a few wickets with the new ball while they were playing our spinners well," Ganguly said, after India won the first cricket Test by a margin of an innings and 90 runs in Bulawayo on Friday.
For Ganguly, the emphatic victory and his century in the first innings, came at the right time as his captaincy was under a cloud for sometime owing to lack of form.
"The pressure was always going to be there as I had not played well for the last 6-7 months, plus expectations were there from me," he said, admitting that he played under pressure in his 48th match as India captain.
Ganguly said many positives could be drawn from the match.
"Pathan clicked, Laxman was best, Dravid played well and Harbhajan's performance were the main highlights to be noted here."
Zimbabwe skipper Tatenda Taibu said his side did its best in the first innings, but felt they should have pushed the target beyond the 300-mark.
"Our guys delivered better in the first innings but a score of 300 plus would have been better," he said.
Zimbabwe scored 279 in their first innings and were all out for 185 in the second after conceding a mammoth 275-run first innings lead.
Taibu said the wicket did not behave the same way as it did on Thursday.
"It was a different story today. Our guys played spin well but the ball was swinging a lot and that did the damage to our side."
Pathan, who was adjudged man-of-the-match after taking nine wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings, said it was good experience with the new ball.
"The ball was swinging well and I could get a few wickets. It seems it is going to be pretty well from here onwards," he added.
"I've got certain experience to swing the ball here. I was not bowling bad but a bit short; I realised the length and changed it and got the wickets," the Baroda player said.
He also said his performance could have been better as he was working hard in the nets, including on his batting skills.
"It could have been a better performance as I am working hard. I am working hard on batting and will definitely improve," Pathan, who scored 52, said.
Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who completed his tally of 200 Test wickets, was also presented with an award for the achievement.
"I was a bit upset when I could not get that single wicket to reach the mark on the first day. I could not sleep that night," he said.
