India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes that the game is in a good balance. England currently lead by 22 runs and the hosts have nine wickets in the bag at the end of Day’s 2 play.
In fact, India was behind the eight ball when they were stuttering at 100-5. However, Virat Kohli was able to rescue the sinking ship as he guided India’s boat to the shore. Kohli was a perfect helmsman and even changed gears after reaching his hundred.
Virat Kohli played a masterful inning.
He knew that he had nothing to lose while batting with the tail. The Indian skipper had to take his risks and he once maneuvered the ball to perfection. Kohli played some delightful strokes throughout the innings to bail India out of trouble.
Meanwhile, Indian openers had put out a 50 runs partnership. Thus, Sanjay Bangar believes that India should have capitalized on the good start.
“Once we got a good start, we should’ve capitalized on it,” Bangar said. “But the openers handled the new ball really well, and the angles that were created by Sam Curran – credit to him that he could create those angles”.
Bangar went on to add that England is familiar with their home conditions. The Indian batting coach said that the match is well placed at this moment. Thus, it would be interesting to note which way the pendulum swings on Day 3.
“England is used to playing in these conditions and we don’t really play in these conditions too often, but the gap is a mere 13 runs. Definitely, the game is really well placed and the wicket which we got close to the end of day’s play has put the game in a very, very good balance,” he added.
Kohli smashes his critics in style.
The former Indian all-rounder also hailed the superb knock of Virat Kohli. Bangar said that the Indian skipper showed great discipline as he did not meddle with the off-stump deliveries. Thus, it was a major difference between Kohli and other Indian batsmen who failed to get going.
“He showed terrific discipline I felt. At no instance did he reach out for the ball, and probably a couple of our other batsmen reached out, which caused their downfall. But that is something which we’ve been speaking of, practicing quite a lot. And on days, these things come off and on certain days those things don’t come out as a batter. Definitely, the batsmen are aware and are taking all efforts to correct the errors”.
Sanjay Bangar said that the individual records don’t matter for Virat Kohli as he has always put the team over self. Kohli was able to narrow down the runs which helped India in making a comeback into the contest.
“He’s a versatile player. At times, quality players keep on assessing their own games and where they want to progress. The awareness that is required under certain conditions, but he does that really well. Again, terrific discipline. When he bats in that fashion, he more often than not gets the team into good positions. Passing an individual landmark doesn’t mean much to him, more than that if it’s a good day for him, he makes sure it’s a great day for him and the team. That’s why he got 149 and it narrowed down the gap beautifully.”
