Today was not our day, says Anil Kumble after dramatic day 2 batting collapse

Today was not our day, says Anil Kumble after dramatic day 2 batting collapse

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BCCI

Anil Kumble could not find an explanation for top-ranked India's dramatic batting collapse on a turning Pune pitch that has pretty much handed the opening Test to Australia by day two of the high-profile four-match series. Today was not our day, was how the India coach put it.

India lost their last seven wickets for 11 runs in the astonishing second session that saw then collapse from 94 for 3 to 105 all out and concede a 155-run first innings lead. KL Rahul batted brilliantly for his 63 and put on a fifty-run partnership with Ajinkya Rahane (13), before the opener's dismissal triggered a collapse. Rahul picked up an injury at a wrong time, which triggered the dismissal.

"It was disappointing. We were in a pretty decent position when Rahul and Ajinkya were batting out there. But once Rahul got out, we lost those four wickets in five or six balls. That certainly pushed us back," Kumble told a news conference after the second day. "You are bound to have a bad day. One of those things where a couple of soft dismissals. It was unfortunate that once Rahul got out, we seemed to lose the bearing at that point of time.."

"This pitch was certainly challenging. We needed a lot more restraint and showed that if you put your head down, you could make those runs. It's a surface where you needed to adapt. We didn't adapt really well. Probably if you look at yesterday, the first 80 runs in the first session and the last 60 runs for the last wicket - that slightly took us away from what we were wanting to restrict Australia. It is a challenging surface which requires application, aggression and a bit of caution as well. You need a mix out of that. And today was not our day. We have to give credit to the Australian bowlers as well. It was one of those days when you go back and start, 'Ok, how do we come back and pick those six wickets?'

"It is a challenging surface which requires application, aggression and a bit of caution as well. You need a mix out of that. And today was not our day. We have to give credit to the Australian bowlers as well. It was one of those days when you go back and start, 'Ok, how do we come back and pick those six wickets?'

"A couple of batsmen are bound to fail, having been scoring exceptionally well. Virat got out today, and Pujara got out today cheaply; and so did Vijay. Once Rahul and Ajinkya had that partnership of 50, that's when we could have consolidated and probably got closer to the target or probably even got a lead. But once we lost that wicket... the lower order has contributed to us exceptionally in the past and today was not our day."

The visitors moved to a position of command by close at 143-4 in their second innings for an overall lead of 298.

"There is always a first time to anything," Kumble said. "We would like to restrict them to as little as possible. We dropped a few catches. It has hurt us in the past, especially in this game you need to hold your chances even if half chances. We dropped Steve Smith on a couple of occasions, that has certainly pushed us back. Hopefully tomorrow morning we can pick up a few early wickets and then put the pressure back on them. I still feel there's a lot of cricket to be played in this Test match. Tomorrow is another day."

On Rahul’s injury, Kumble said, "He hurt his shoulder little bit. He came off a little bit while he was batting. So we had to take care. It was more a precaution. He is ok now. He was back on the field for the last couple of overs. He should be ok. Tomorrow we have to see how he responds. Usually, these kind of injuries take 24 hours before it resurfaces. So we are hoping he will be fine.”

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