IND vs SA | The first hour of the day was crucial, says Ajinkya Rahane
Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane seemed to have finally found his long lost form as he brought up his third half-century in four Test matches today. According to Rahane, the first hour of the day was a tricky one for the Indian batsmen as the Proteas pacers bowled a probing line and length.
What a series the Indian batsmen are having so far piling up runs like it’s a walk in the park. With the top five batsmen scoring effortlessly, the Indian team didn't seem to feel the absence of an extra batsman. Ajinkya Rahane, who brought up his 20th half-century today, was all praises for skipper Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja who put up a mammoth 225-run partnership to take India past the 600-run mark. Although Rahane thought that 600 was a bit too much on the Pune pitch but he wasn’t complaining.Â
“The way we batted (took us to a score in excess of 600). There was assistance for fast bowlers, Mayank batted well. It was important to play that one hour really well in the morning. We were thinking about 500+. The manner in which Virat and Jaddu batted, it looked so easy from the outside. I don't think it's a 600+ wicket, it's a 450-500 runs wicket,” Rahane said after the match.Â
Rahane stitched up a crucial partnership of 178 runs with skipper Kohli before being dismissed by Keshav Maharaj while Kohli went onto score an unbeaten 254. Rahane said that he enjoyed batting with the skipper as they communicate really well in the middle.Â
“We (himself and Kohli) enjoy each others' company. We communicate really well whenever we bat together. We knew we were one batsman short and we had to get that partnership going. That partnership between us was really important.” he said.Â
Pleased with the weather in Pune, Rahane hailed it as a pretty pleasant for bowling. He also expressed faith in his spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Jadeja to set them up for an easy win. The Pune pitch also seems to have something for the pacers as Umesh Yadav bagged two quick wickets before stumps with Moahammed Shami grabbing another.
“Pretty pleasant here, Vizag was really hot. Bowlers will really enjoy. If we can bowl in right areas, we'll win by a good margin. Fast bowlers have good assistance if they bowl in the right areas. The ball is turning, Ashwin and Jadeja can bowl on any track,” the 31-year-old signed off.Â
