Ajinkya Rahane reveals details about fightback after 36-all out

India’s stand-in captain for the Test series Down Under, Ajinkya Rahane has revealed the process behind the remarkable turn around in the series. Easily, India’s best victory in Test cricket history, Rahane spoke to Marathi daily Sakal about how it all unfolded till the final Brisbane Test.

Rahane credited the leadership group of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravi Ashwin and vice-captain Rohit Sharma for the win overseas and stated that the senior pros took additional responsibilities on themselves to instil belief in the Indian team that lacked experience.

Rahane could not have taken over the captaincy at a worst possible time. Before Virat Kohli’s scheduled return to India for the birth of his first child, the team was bundled out for just 36 runs in the first Test match in Adelaide. India’s lowest score in Test history.

Rahane told Sakal that his first message after getting the baton was that Adelaide was a closed chapter and nobody should discuss it.

"I told them that topic should not be discussed at all. The fact that we got all out for 36 is not any mistake. We should just accept it and move on. No point going in-depth and thinking about it because the [next Test] match was immediately starting in three days. My only message was: it happened in one hour. They [Australia] played good cricket. Such things happen once in a century. The faster we accept this happened and move on, that is good for us."

Leading from the front in the next game, Rahane score a magnificent 112 runs in the Boxing Day Test match at the MCG to set the tone for the rest of the series.

And the rest was history. Battered, bruised and depleted, Rahane’s India played out a gladiatorial draw at Sydney which they had no right to win and then went onto breach fortress Gabba to chase down 324 runs in the final day. Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar battled for every inch on the final day of the Test match to win the game with three overs to spare.

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Ravi Shastri doesn't care one bit what people think about him: Sridhar

India made a strong comeback in the Test series against Australia after losing the first match. They were bowled out for 36 in the first innings of the first Test to eventually suffer a defeat but turned tables for themselves to win the series 2-1. India fielding coach R.Sridhar in an exclusive chat with Cricketnext talked about head coach Ravi Shastri’s roles and how does he react to criticism. “First of all, Shastri doesn't care about what people think. Ravi Shastri doesn't care one bit what people write about him or think about him. With Ravi Shastri, what you see is what you get. This is not the first series where his inputs have been invaluable to the Indian team. He's always been one of the best observers, it's outstanding,” he said. “Shastri's inputs have always been invaluable for the team. It's just that it has come to the fore in this series because the result is extraordinary and history has been achieved especially at the Gabba. He has been one guy who has always backed the players, made them feel good and given very very inputs. So many times he has given inputs about where to stand for batsmen, how to counter angles, which guard to take for which bowler... Virat has openly admitted once that Shastri asked him to stand a few steps in front of the crease,” he added. Sridhar also lauded Bharat Arun’s efforts and said, “We are also very very blessed to have Bharat Arun with us, he is one of the best readers of a cricket pitch I've ever seen. He can read pitches to perfection. In Jamaica, he said the ball would turn. We were like 'what are you saying paaji, turn in Jamaica?'. He said you wait and watch, the pitch will turn on the third and fourth days. Eventually in that match, Jadeja was unplayable.” “His knowledge of soil, grass, the way pitches are prepared across the world is outstanding because he has himself made grounds and pitches in Chennai in those days. So he has extreme knowledge of soil, ground and grass. Combine that with Shastri's cricket acumen, we have a potent force there in terms of tactical decisions,” the fielding coach added.

Joe Root's two wickets helps England etch distinguished record

England achieved a rare feat in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle after the pacers picked all the wickets in the first innings while spinners scalped all the ten wickets in the second innings. Dominic Bess and Jack Leach bagged a four-for each while captain Joe Root picked up a couple of wickets during the course. Leach gave the visitors the first breakthrough after trapping Kusal Perera in front of the stumps. His scalps included the dismissals of Lahiru Thirimane, Dinesh Chandimal and Ramesh Mendis while Bess removed Oshada Fernando, Angelo Mathews who scored a century in the first innings, wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera. England had put 344, courtesy Root’s second ton of the series on the trot I reply to Sri Lanka’s 381 in the first innings. Lasith Embuldeniya scalped a seven-for the hosts. Later, Sri Lanka began the proceedings in a dismal fashion in the second innings and were left tottering at 78/8 when Embuldeniya and Suranga Lakmal chipped in with a partnership of 38 for the ninth wicket. Embuldeniya scored 40 off 42 including six boundaries and a maximum. They were eventually bundled out for 126 to hand England a target of 164. England lead the series 1-0.

It's the truth: Wriddhiman Saha on being superior keeper to Rishabh Pant

In an exclusive interview with the Hindustan Times India’s Test keeper Wriddhiman Saha has said that there is no doubt that he is the better keeper and Rishabh Pant is the better batsman. Asked about his take on the comparisons between him and Pant, Saha stated that when Pant takes guard in the middle, he bats with a different level of confidence. “It is the truth and you can’t deny it. Right from childhood, I have treated myself as a keeper first and then a batsman. Can’t really say what is Rishabh’s opinion on this. But when he takes his stance in the middle and bats the way he does, it exerts a different level of confidence.” Talking about the team management’s approach to playing two different keepers in the same format, Saha explained that while it doesn’t happen in most countries, as players they have to be okay with it. “It probably doesn’t happen in any other country. Teams change keepers with different formats but two keepers rotating in the same format after a couple of games doesn’t happen that often but we are all professional cricketers, we have to keep our faith in the team management.” Not been amongst runs for a while now, Saha has come under criticism from fans and pundits with several claiming that Pant should play ahead of him given his batting abilities. Unperturbed by the opinions, Saha stated that at the end of the day it is about playing their natural game and what a team is looking for as a combination. “He (Pant) gets success playing that way. Now once again, it boils down to the team management whether they want to play an extra batsman or a specialist keeper.” Saha elaborated. Quizzed about Rahane as a captain, Saha reflected that the Indian captain Down Under never let his emotions get the better of him and always kept it cool even in the most stressful situations. “He is always cool, there is no anger in him. He never lets the emotions get the better of him. I’m sure he too gets excited at times but it doesn’t show on his face. He believes in all the players, pushes all of us to play our natural game,” Saha explained. On his tactical abilities, Saha expounded that Rahane lets the team to play their own natural game and is not the kind of person who will go forward and impose his ideas on someone. “For example, he will never stop Rishabh from playing his shots. Obviously, if the game situation demands something different then he will pass on his inputs but in general, he lets the player play his natural game,” Saha concluded.

If you take spinners as T20 commodity, that’s where you will finish them: Ashwin

The competition bar to sustain a place in the Indian team is rising with every passing series. We witnessed some new match-winners on the recently concluded tour of Australia when players like Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill and Shardul Thakur stepped up to take the responsibility and won the series for India. Some similar competition has been there as far as the spin department is concerned. Sundar made his Test debut on this series while someone like Kuldeep Yadav didn’t even get a match to don the Indian jersey. In a chat with The New Indian Express, R Ashwin talked about the spinners and how making them a T20 “commodity” will not help them. “When I came through the first-class ranks, my first captain was S Badrinath and coach was (WV) Raman. The learning I had under them is not the same for spinners coming right now. I was having a chat with Wasim Jaffer and Amol Muzumdar and that’s one of the reasons. Another thing is the amount of grass and the number of wickets the seamers take... games that finish in the first two days with seamers taking a lot of wickets to throw spinners off guard.” “Spinners are someone who emerge because they do a lot of repetition and get a lot of games in FC cricket. If you are taking that away from the spinners and look at them as a T20 commodity, that’s where you will finish them. I feel there are talents but the way they are dealt with in first-class cricket is not the same as the privilege I had of being mentored by my captain and coach,” he said.