India's incredible victory over the West Indies in the DLF Cup tri-series match, in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, was because of well-planned strategy, skipper Rahul Dravid revealed.
Although the Indians were bowled out for a paltry 162 in 39.3 overs, they still believed that they could win the match, Dravid said, after the 16-run victory that kept India's hopes of a berth in the final alive.
"It was not a coincidence. We did believe that we could win this one. We talked about it in the break," Dravid said.
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"We knew that the West Indies batting has been struggling, except for Lara who comes out to bat in the middle. So we thought if we could pick a few early wickets we would stand a chance of winning.
"It was always going to be a tall order but we believed in ourselves," the stylish right-hander added.
Dravid heaped praise on his bowlers for defending the small total admirably.
"The bowlers put on a great performance; their bowling was exceptional today. All the bowlers -- Munaf [Patel], [Ajit] Agarkar, R P, Sreesanth, Harbhajan [Singh] -- all of them bowled beautifully."
Dravid admitted that the batting left a lot to be desired, but said some thought ought to be given to the fact that the team was playing its first full game in almost two months.
"We did not bat to our potential. But one must keep in mind that we haven't played for the last two months; to come back and win in this fashion is good."
Dravid also said the victory should stand the team in good stead in the crucial league match against Australia on Friday.
"This win is a big fillip. (If we had not won this one) it would have been difficult to beat Australia with bonus points. If we play well against Australia we can give them a run for their money."
West Indies skipper Brian Lara said some of his team members are lacking confidence but they should get things right in the three days' break before the final on September 24.
"We bowled pretty well and we started pretty well too. We needed guys to hang in there and show responsibility, but, unfortunately, that did not happen. We have three days to get things right," he said.
"Some of our guys are lacking confidence. But guys like Marlon Samuels have to remember that they have done it before. It is just a matter of gaining that confidence back as quickly as possible."
Man of the match Harbhajan Singh said he worked hard on his batting and that was the reason why he was able to stitch a crucial 78-run partnership with Sachin Tendulkar.
"I have worked very hard on my batting. Today I was just trying to stay with Sachin," said the Punjab player, who scored 37 and also took three wickets.
As for his bowling, Harbhajan said he was just trying to bowl a good line and length as the wicket was giving a bit of help to spinners.
Tendulkar, declared Air Sahara High Flier of the match, said batting was difficult on the wicket.
"It has been good so far in this tournament. I missed out on an opportunity to score against Australia. Today it was hard work. I was just trying to be patient and be there till the end."
Asked what advice he gave Harbhajan, Tendulkar said, "I know Harbhajan can strike the ball well. I told him if there is a ball in his slot, he should strike it or else try to show the full face of the bat."
The star batsman also praised the bowlers for bringing the team back into the game.
"The bowlers bowled well today, they hit on target. It was good bowling backed by good fielding. They brought us back into the game quite nicely. We will now try to put our best performance against Australia," he added.
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