Hyderabad: Batting coach Sanjay Bangar is pleased as punch with India’s position in the second Test against West Indies, and has special praise for Rishab Pant and Ajinkya Rahane who batted the hosts into a position of strength on the second day.
“We are well-placed. At one time the game was hanging in a balance at 162 for 4. Then, Rahane and Pant put up a very good partnership. Hope they would see through the first 30 minutes tomorrow morning when the second new ball is due,” Bangar said after Saturday’s play.
Bangar felt the West Indians bowled to a plan and made things harder for the batsmen to score runs via boundaries. “The batsmen had to wait for the loose balls.”
He also commended Prithvi Shaw’s aggression. “We encourage batsmen to have their individual style. I believe someone like Shaw at the top takes the pressure off the middle-order,” he said.
From the other camp, Roston Chase was understandably happy with his hundred.
“I was really pleased with that. This was my first away from home. After the first game, I really looked at my batting in both the innings and thought I was trying to overhit the ball and on these quick outfields, that’s not really called for,” Chase said, adding, “you just need to stroke the ball into the gaps and get the ones and twos and put the bad balls away and runs will come that way.”
“I wanted to go bigger, it’s never enough runs for the batsman,” he said.
Chase felt the Windies bowled well but also rued fielding errors. “We tried to contain the batsmen, we set more defensive fields and tried to put more pressure back on them after they got the quick start and it paid off for us. But, then, we had a few lapses in the field and that really cost it,” he said.
