Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted that bringing Murali Kartik into the side was more a gamble that paid off. "I took the gamble and I would have been at the receiving end if he had not performed," said Dhoni after India scored an exciting two-wicket win here on Wednesday.

Kartik produced figures of six for 27, the best by a left-arm spinner in the one-dayers, helping India reduce the margin to 2-4. "He did brilliantly. He played a major role in both our victories (here and Chandigarh),” said Dhoni. “He is really excited. When he was called back into the side, he needed to perform, he was quite determined to perform. He even had an injury on his right thumb, but he quite eager to play.

“The way he bowled was brilliant. If a bowler keeps bowling in the right place, you can set aggressive fields. That was not the case in previous matches. We bowled well today, apart from the start when we were erratic and gave too many runs with the new ball."

On India’s stumbling run-chase, Dhoni said he would take the win any day. "It was a tight match. Personally, I thought it was a good wicket though it does a bit under lights, plenty of bounce and seam movement. I knew it would be tough. I thought we would win comfortably, but I would take it with an open heart," he stated, adding that Rahul Dravid was rested and not dropped.

Crediting team effort for the success, Dhoni went on, “Even in the last match, we were on course to win. But unfortunately, we couldn't because we made a few mistakes. But we knew this was a very crucial match for us.

We didn't start the series well, but we wanted to end it on a positive note. It was a big challenge for the team."
Singling out Robin Uthappa as one of the finds of the series, the skipper said: "Robin has matured a lot as a player. He is an opener, but he is the kind of batsman you can shuffle around to play at any place. He is a big asset to the team. He plays positively, and fielded well through the series. It was a good series for him."

Told it was India’s first successful chase against Australia since 1998, Dhoni said he didn't much importance to statistics. "I don't really believe in statistics much. We wanted to do well. There were quite a few areas that we wanted to work on, like fielding, running between the wickets. The intensity was high throughout the match."