'We played according to plan'

On whether he was lucky to get Sachin’s wicket

Not really, actually. We had a plan where we concentrated [our attention] around Sachin [Tendulkar] and [Sanath] Jayasuriya’s wicket and we got Jayasuriya’s wicket early. Then I just bowled to my strengths. On Indian wickets if you compare [them with overseas wickets], only if you bowl variations can you get batsmen out. If you bowl normal [deliveries] then it will be difficult for a bowler to get wickets.

On what the turning point of the game was

In that over I took three wickets and from there on the match turned, I think. In the first or second over, Dale Steyn took Jayasuriya’s wicket - that also was a turning point because he is a very hard-hitting batsman. Once he went, the pressure obviously was on Sachin and then Sachin fell later. In the end, Zaheer played really well otherwise the target would have been around 130-135 runs.

On Dale Steyn and Praveen Kumar

Steyn has pace - he bowls quick and Praveen has swing. Bowling first they take care of the batsmen and after that I come and just stick to my basics. So we have a very good bowling attack, initially those two then [Jacques] Kallis who bowls well too.

On Kumble’s captaincy

Yeah, he puts a lot of energy in the players. In the team meetings he really backs you, and if you have one or two bad overs, then he will come and talk to you. That pep talk works and the bowlers do well.

On whether there was a bowling strategy

Yeah, actually we had a plan like bowling more to the centre of the stumps because most of the Indian batsmen are not that comfortable playing in-swingers. This time we had plans.

On the feeling after winning three matches

It has been great. We lost the first match but after that we won the next three matches, so it is a nice feeling.