Centurion :
Team India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour has again come out in support of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane following the batters’ lean patch in the longest format of the game. While Rahane did score 48 and 20 in the first Test against South Africa, Pujara departed for a duck before hitting 16 in the second innings. ”As far as Pujara and Rahane are concerned, they are trying their best, they are giving their best. Rahane was in really good touch but unfortunately, he got out, so has Pujara,” said Rathour in the press conference after the end of Day four’s play.
“Pujara in past has played some important innings for us, you see these are challenging conditions, not many people have scored runs here. We need to be patient as long as they are trying their best, giving their best as coaching unit we are fine. Are we getting impatient? Not at this stage, I think,” he added.
India need six wickets to win the first Test against South Africa as the match enters the final day here at SuperSport Park, Centurion.
After India were folded in the second session on Wednesday, 40.5 overs were bowled with South Africa losing four wickets in the tricky phase.
Team India’s batting coach wants bowlers to hit the same length on Thursday to seal the win for the visitors.
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“This Test cricket, nothing is easy I feel, we still need to bowl well, we still need to bowl in the right areas. The way we bowled today, if we keep hitting those lengths consistently we will create lots of opportunities,” said Rathour while replying to a query from ANI.
At stumps, the Proteas went into the dugout at 94/4 with 211 runs more required to win and six wickets in the bag. For hosts captain, Dean Elgar is currently unbeaten on the crease as the Test goes into the final day.
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