Press Trust of India
Colombo, August 23: Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane stated Sunday that his team will have to bowl with a lot of patience on fifth day in their pursuit of victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka here.
“I think the match is poised pretty well. We just have to be in the present because throughout the four days we played some good cricket,” said Rahane after the fourth day’s play.
“It is important to be in the present. And tomorrow (Monday), we need to take it one wicket at a time. We just need to be patient, that will be the key, because this wicket is getting slower and slower. There will be good partnerships but one good session for us and we can win this Test,” he added.
Having played a stellar role to take India to a total of 325 for eight declared in their second innings, thereby taking an overall lead of 412 runs, Rahane said his partnerships with Murali Vijay and Rohit Sharma proved to be crucial.
“Building a partnership was the crucial aspect of our batting today (Sunday). So we were looking to build a partnership. Vijay was batting well at the other end and our communication was very good. The partnership between Rohit and me was also very crucial,” pointed out Rahane.
This was Rahane’s first Test ton in the subcontinent, with the previous three coming in New Zealand, England and Australia.
“When I got out in the first innings, I was very hurt,” said the centurion about his first innings’ score of four. “I worked with batting coach Sanjay Bangar and we came earlier and did some throw downs. So his hard work and Ravi Shastri’s inputs really helped me in the second innings.”
