“This is right at the top, not just overseas wins but if you look at whatever victories there have been — this will probably rate as one of the best,” the Indian captain  said on Saturday evening.

Hailing a complete team effort, Kumble added, “It was everyone's contribution. I have always had the confidence in the team, had only positive thoughts coming here. The bonding within the team is very special. The most important thing was that after what happened in Sydney, we wanted to show that the Indian team is a good cricket unit. We have shown that on what is probably regarded as the home turf for Australia, that makes it even more special.”

Kumble refuted suggestions that India had eyed 'revenge' after the events during and after the Sydney Test. “I don't think there was any kind of revenge or ill-feeling. But it was important we come back into the series.

“We came into this tour looking to win the series, but after the first two Tests, we knew that all we could do was level the series. I am delighted we have taken the first step towards that here. It is now important to take that momentum forward to Adelaide and level the series. That will be the best result after what happened in the first two Tests.” Throwing light on how the team picked itself up after the happenings in Sydney, the skipper revealed, “It was important to move on. When we went to Canberra, it was good for us to be away from everybody. We sat down and discussed how we were going to go forward. That is when we decided to concentrate on cricket and leave the rest of the matters to whoever needed to handle them. It was important we stuck together in the week in Sydney and Canberra.”

Sehwag’s role
Kumble said Virender Sehwag had played his part in Ishant Sharma getting rid of Ricky Ponting. “Ishant had already bowled seven overs and I was about to take him off when Sehwag told me that he bowls 10-11 overs in a spell for Delhi. Ricky was finding it difficult against Ishant and he was on strike, so I asked Ishant if he could bowl one more over. It worked really well. I haven't played much with Ishant, so it was really important that Sehwag gave me that indication.”