Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar has termed half-centurions Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara as quality Test players after the duo combined to help the visitors post a stern total of 323 runs against Australia on day four of the first Test in Adelaide.
The batsmen stitched an 87-run partnership to help India post a total in excess of 300 which seemed improbable at one stage.
“Tremendous application especially after where we were at the end of the first session (on the first day) where we lost four wickets. But after that a lot of resistance and resilience was shown by Pujara,” said Bangar.
“(Pujara) has himself said that it was one of his best knocks, and on back of that he’s repeated that and made a big contribution in the second innings as well. So he’s managed to surpass obstacles, and got those big scores that every batsman wants. He must be very satisfied that he’s done a role for the team and that must have led to some personal landmarks and personal glory, which he richly deserves.”
“Ajinkya and Pujara, both [are] quality Test players and whenever they have done well they have put us in a good position.”
“In the previous West Indies series he got scores. In England, he got scores in the third, fourth and the fifth game. It’s just that the 100 has been elusive. The big knock which we all are expecting and he also is working hard towards it,” he added.
At the same time, he had a few stern words in store for the lower order batsmen who delivered an underwhelming performance, losing the last five wickets for just 25 runs.
“We were expecting at least 25 (more) runs from there,” said Bangar.
“That is an area where we are continuously looking to improve. And we are hoping that the lower order, especially the tailenders at 9, 10, 11 show a bit more application than what they did today,” he added.
Source: Zee News