Ajinkya Rahane Gave A Disappointing Statement After The Match: The first Test between India and New Zealand resulted in a draw on Monday, after a resilient effort by New Zealand’s last pair of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel. India turned things around after second session of Day 5 and put themselves in a very strong position before Rachin and Ajaz negotiated 52 balls and saved the match for New Zealand.
It was a good effort by Indian bowlers but the captaincy and intensity could have been much better in the middle. After the match, Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane said that he doesn’t think that India could have done anything differently and they tried their best in the middle.
“Not really, we tried our best. They played really well. I think the way we came back in the second session was good. The fast bowlers too bowled really well. We wanted to get that partnership going, put some runs on board. Saha and Axar batted really well. Before that Shreyas and Ashwin’s partnership was crucial. We wanted to bowl four overs yesterday and 90-95 in all. I don’t think we could have done anything differently,” Ajinkya Rahane said.
Ajinkya Rahane also spoke about his animated chat with the on-field umpires after the match said that it was about the light as India wanted to bowl more overs had the light been better. He also added that India is happy with umpires’s decision.
“The chat with the umpires was about the light. As a fielding team, you want to bowl more overs, as a batting unit you don’t want to bat in that situation. The chat was about the light, but umpires made the call and I thought they were right.”
Rahane also spoke about Shreyas Iyer dream debut and said he is really very happy for the young batter.
“I am really happy for Shreyas. He had to wait a long time for his Test debut. He batted really well. The way he works, his record in first-class cricket is really good.”
“Virat is coming back for the next game. We’ll have to wait and see till the Mumbai game. I am not going to make any comments but the management will make a call,” Ajinkya Rahane added.
Why we believe his statement on the match is disappointing?
We wrote an article about two mistakes made by Ajinkya Rahane and argued that he could have done two things differently:
1) Taken more time while bowling the last 6=7-8 overs and slowed down the pace of the game, to add more pressure on Kiwi tail-enders. Indian bowlers seemed to be in too much rush and they just ran throw their overs.
2) Indian fielders around the bat should have created more pressure. Here, India missed Virat Kohli’s aggression and intensity, that adds much more pressure on the opposition. India should have attacked more with words, sledging and aggression.
