Adam Gilchrist, who bid farewell to international cricket, at the Gabba on Tuesday

Brisbane: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hailed his young team after they clinched the tri-series finals 2-0 here on Tuesday. Dhoni, who has now led India to victory in two prestigious events (after the win in ICC World Twenty20) in the last seven months, attributed the success to a team effort. “Captain ka role nahin hota... It’s ultimately how your players react under pressure that matters,” he said in the post-match news conference.

The following are excerpts

The success

The role of the captain was not the only one. The captain is one guy who gathers the pressure and then channels it to the individual player and then it depends on how that individual reacts. We didn’t start that well but we improved as the tournament went on and the credit should go to every player.

Sachin’s performance

Performance is one thing, performing back to back is something else. People may call him sitting elephant, but he’s the best. He never said a word, he wanted to let his bat do the talking.

Harbhajan Singh and the Australian media

There was a time when it seemed Bhajji was Michael Jackson here... It was good to see him always on the front page, it put pressure on him. More controversies and he became more determined. After sometime we got used to it. We knew everyday we open the newspaper there would be something.

His path-breaking decisions

We wanted to surprise Australia with Piyush Chawla in the finals. He mixes it well, he varies his pace and has a googly which turns on any wicket. Robin (Uthappa) can do more damage at number six or seven. If he settles down as an opener, he would buy a few more games for himself. As for Irfan bowling the last over, there were no options. I had more confidence in Irfan than Sreesanth...

Finally, was he desperate to finish it off in Brisbane?

(Laughs) Yes, because I have not ridden my motorbike for quite a long time… If it had gone to the last game, we would have boarded flight on ninth... been there on the 10th. Hardly any time for yourself and your family... But it was not part of our plan to finish off...