‘Wish lower order showed application’
India assistant coach Sanjay Bangar on Sunday highlighted the lower order collapse as one of the areas the team can improve going ahead in the Test series against Australia and said it is now about “crossing the line”.
The visitors lost their last seven wickets for 73 runs, and the last five for 25 runs, as they were bowled out for 307 runs in the second innings of the opening Test at the Adelaide Oval.
Chasing 323, Australia finished day four at 104 for four. Bangar said the expectation was of another 25 runs from the lower order, which collapsed as soon as Rishabh Pant holed out after an attacking innings.
“We were expecting atleast 25 runs. That’s an area where we are continuously looking to improve. And we hope the lower order, especially number 9, 10 and 11 show more application than they did today,” he said.
“When Rishabh Pant walked in we were 260-odd. Immediately he released the pressure and gave us those quick 30-35 runs.
ADELAIDE:
Once he had put us in that position, we expected that with time, with a better approach and calculation, tactically he could have done better.
FEARLESS PANT
“But you don’t want to take the fearlessness away from him otherwise. Hitting against the turn and getting those boundaries are high percentage shots. Those are the shots that many courageous players have played.”
When asked if Pant needs to relook at certain aspects of his batting, Bangar replied, “He is a pretty mature player. He is capable of playing both games. He has another aspect to his game and for somebody who is just starting his career, it is an exciting prospect to have.”
Bangar said that it bode well that Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane had started this series well and that they had batted in some difficult conditions in South Africa and England.
“One needs to understand that the margins in those games have been very, very slim. Right from Cape Town to the Oval, the margins of defeat were very small.
“We have put ourselves in those commanding positions. Unfortunately we couldn’t close those but as a team probably what we feel is that we have always been very competitive. Now it is about crossing the line.”
He added that there had been some tough conditions in previous tours, and the criticism at times can be unreasonable.
“We have been through difficult periods where we have played under difficult conditions. But they started well here. When we arrived here in Adelaide, perception was that it is generally a batting friendly track.”
Ups and downs in life take too long, but in sports, they come within half an hour. These lessons cannot be learnt from books. We are confident of 2024 and 2028. I challenge everyone for 2028 if we are allowed to work like this. Incentives are coming in and they become incentives for a few to cheat. Both education and measures to control are in place.