'Not a good day for us'

It was deja vu at Eden Gardens. Just like in Kanpur where Indians did all the hard work before throwing away their wickets playing casual shots, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were the guilty ones here on Friday.

Both the batsmen staged a superb recovery for India, hauling the hosts out of trouble with some dogged batting. After playing the entire second session with great discipline and appearing to cash in on their hard labour, Pujara fell to a bad shot that brought an end to the 141-run fourth-wicket partnership. Rahane also missed out on a deserved century, going back and across when he could have played forward. Had one of the two carried on to make a ton, India could have been in a much better position than they are now and Rahane admitted they are a bit disappointed.

“I think we had a few soft dismissals,” said Rahane. “The partnership between me and Pujara was crucial for us. 240-250 for four or five (at stumps) would have been good for us, but I think we’ve lost two extra wickets. Nevertheless, it’s not a typical Kolkata wicket. There is something in the wicket. But I’m really happy with the way Pujara and I batted in the second session. It was really tough, it was humid out there. But yes overall, not a good day for us so far.”

Eden Gardens is known to churn out batting tracks but the one on Friday surprised most with its pace, bounce and turn. Rahane though blamed the batsmen for the dismissals rather than the nature of the surface. “We didn’t expect a two-paced wicket. We felt it will be very good. Generally the Kolkata wicket is flat and good for batting. It was (good out there) for the fast bowlers and initially they bowled really well too.

And if you saw with the second new ball, that bouncer which Trent Boult bowled to Wriddhiman Saha – because of the crack it deviated. So it’s not easy for the batsmen, but again – no excuses. We played some bad shots and got out, it happens in cricket. We’ll have to learn quickly and move forward again.”

Rahane opined that a score around 300 would be a good one on this track. “If we get 325-330 plus here on this kind of wicket, that will be a very good total for the first innings. But we have to bowl really well here. As I mentioned, it’s not easy for the batsmen, but again we’ll have to get those wickets quickly initially and bowl tight lines and lengths.”