We are happy to play on such wickets: Sanjay Bangar

"We want to continue improving as a team."

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Sanjay Bangar India BCCI
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Sanjay Bangar. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The batting coach of the Indian team Sanjay Bangar believes that the team is happy to play on challenging tracks such as one at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. India finished the day at 17/3 on a rain-marred first day after Sri Lanka put the hosts in to bat first. Suranga Lakmal wreaked havoc in the Indian camp and ran through the top order without conceding a run. However, Bangar has cleared that the Indian team thrives on challenges and doesn’t want to play on easy pitches.

Rain played spoilsport on the first day of the three-match Test series between India and Sri Lanka. The play was frequently stopped either due to rain or bad light and only 11.5 overs were bowled throughout the day in two sessions. The visitors made full use of the helpful conditions picking the top three wickets of India and ruled the day. Though they would’ve loved to play more the fading light never improved and the umpires finally decided to call stumps.

We are ready for the challenge

Sanjay Bangar cleared the air by mentioning that the team had no issues to play on more such wickets and they would welcome challenges. “We are happy to play on wickets like this. A team doesn’t really want to play on easy conditions. We challenge ourselves and most players are open to such challenges. We want to continue improving as a team. It was a similar wicket last year, after it was relaid. We played the Test really well and applied ourselves. We are ready for the challenge,” he told reporters after the first day’s play which saw India losing 3 wickets for just 17 runs.

“The conditions were pretty tough for batting and what didn’t really help us was we did not get an extended passage for play wherein you had 15-20 overs bowled at a batsman in a particular fashion. It didn’t allow our batsmen to get into a rhythm. We have got all bases covered as the game goes into fourth and fifth day. There would be dents in the wicket because of the dampness. There will be variable bounce which may come into play. Both spinners are really vital to us. We have got swing and seam and the pace that is required,” he added.

Bangar also felt that it was all about respecting the situation and fighting it out in the middle. “The amount of times you are going to get beaten plays on your mind. The best approach is to forget the previous ball and accept that you got beaten on a number of occasions. You may not really play elegantly but you will have to grind it out as those are equally important runs. You can’t really fault them for shot selections. All credit to Lakmal who put the ball in right place and let the wicket did the rest. He used the conditions that suited him,” he continued.

The 45-year-old also backed Shikhar Dhawan who played a rash shot and gifted his wicket. “He’s a stroke player, he backs himself to play shots and whenever the shots come off it really looks great. At times they can change the course of the match in a matter of 15 overs. You want a player like Shikhar to play in his own fashion. Every batsman has individual style of play, we don’t want to curtail their style of play,” Bangar said while stressing the fact that the team has quality all-rounders to post a good total on the board.

“The quality of all-rounders gives a lot of depth in lower order batting and also bowling option to get 20 wickets in a Test. It has worked well in two and a half seasons and we have won mainly because of our composition,” he concluded.

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