Not often is an Indian player held up high for fielding. But the close-in catching by the Indian team in this Test has been nothing short of brilliant. Ajinkya Rahane gobbled up five on the day and eight in total in the match, which also happens to be a world record for a non-wicketkeeper.
Excerpts from the media conference
On the record: “I didn’t know until M. Vijay and Umesh [Yadav] told me. I was quite surprised.
On [Kumar] Sangakkara’s catch I was completely focusing on the present moment because we all knew that one wicket at that point would give us that momentum.
It did and immediately Mathews got out. So my motto was to stay focussed all the time in the slips because the ball was turning.
Approach for the 176-run chase: “Our intention is to stay positive. Virat and Shikhar got very good hundreds in the first innings. Each and every batsmen is in good touch. So I am confident.
Focus and concentration will be the key for the first one hour. And later on we will try and get the score as quickly as possible.
Will the sharp and slow turn make it tough? “Will definitely be challenging.
They also have two good spinners. But our plan will be to bat to our strengths, which is what we did in the first innings. And I am confident that we will win.
Could India have done anything differently post lunch? “I think after lunch session, we knew that they would be aggressive.
I felt Virat kept really good field positions. But, [Dinesh] Chandimal played some good sweep shots over square-leg.
We were just talking about cutting down boundaries and giving them singles. After tea, we came back really well. We gave hardly 60-75 runs.
