Fielding coach R Sridhar impressed with Rahane's captaincy

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Ajinkya Rahane
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Ajinkya Rahane of India. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Team India fielding coach R Sridhar looked quite impressed with the way stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane went about his duties on the day 1 of the Ranchi Test. Albeit the Australian side emerged as the dominant side on the day, there was very little that the Indians could do with a track as flat as the one prepared. Australia finished with 299/4 by the end of the day’s play with Steve Smith batting with an unbeaten century.

The day had started off on a good note for the hosts as they had managed to scalp 3 wickets in the first session. However, things started turning grey from the second session. It was in the 40th over of the day when Indian skipper Virat Kohli injured his shoulder in a fielding attempt. Rahane took over the leadership role as Kohli had to walk out of the park for medical assistance.

Reflecting back at this, fielding coach  R Sridhar remarked that the way Rahane communicated with the bowlers was commendable. Rahane was seen taking help from R Ashwin and Ishant Sharma as well. This is something that the Indian dressing room would be really proud of.

“Ajinkya did a very good job. He was very sure of his plans. Ajinkya being Ajinkya, he was taking advice from the seniors, Ashwin and Ishant. In Virat’s absence, he kept the energy well. He positioned himself in the outfield and made sure he communicated well with the bowlers,” Sridhar quoted in the post-match press conference.

The track at Ranchi was under the scanner prior to the game with the visiting side expecting it to be the worst of the series thus far. However, it turned out to be a totally opposite one. Sridhar rightly noted that it was a good batting deck with very little assistance for the bowlers. Despite this fact, Umesh’s clinical spells were a highlight on the day.

“It was probably the better batting day in the series so far. Pitch was nice and placid. It’s not that we are in the situation for the first time during this home season. It was a very good day one batting track. We will see how it unfolds tomorrow,” Sridhar said.

“There were a few good spells from Umesh, he was coming and giving it really hard, getting the ball to reverse a bit. There was not too much of pace in the wicket to try too many bouncers. So it was not in the plan and we tried a few ones to surprise the batsmen,” R Sridhar added further.

Commenting on the state of the match, the fielding coach reckons that the equation is still not out of hand for the hosts. He recalled that they have been in a similar situation before in the England series as well. He also had a word on Wriddhiman Saha’s comic episode with Steve Smith on the day. He said that the ball was dead and perhaps Saha was playing for the cameras there.

“We have been in the same situation. In Mumbai, Chennai and we have come back and got ourselves in the match. We all know the rules. When the ball stuck on the pads, it’s a dead ball. That pretty much ends the episode. He was maybe playing for the gallery. But the rule was quite simple,” he conceded.

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