We won’t take Sri Lanka lightly: Rahane
Kolkata, Nov 14 (IANS) India vice captain Ajinkya Rahane on Tuesday said they are not taking Sri Lanka lightly despite recently humbling the tourists 9-0 across all formats in their own den.
India play three Tests, three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against the Islanders. The first rubber starts on Thursday at the Eden Gardens here.
“This series is completely different compared to how we played in Sri Lanka. We know the conditions here but we are not taking Sri Lanka lightly. We had a good series in Sri Lanka,” Rahane told reporters here two days ahead of the first Test.
“For us every match and series is important before going to South Africa (in January) but I feel we are just focussing on this series right now, first game in Calcutta. We just want to think about our game rather than thinking about their combination or their strengths.”
Rahane was seen practicing a lot of reverse sweep during practice on Monday. Asked about the reason, the Mumbai right-handed batsman said: “It is important to improve your game day by day when you are practicing in the nets. It is important to evolve.
“I always think that if I improve one shot in the net session I will be better off in the game. If opportunity comes in the game, I am 100 percent confident of playing a particular shot. So I am just practising reverse sweeps, sweeps and paddle sweeps just as an option.”
Is he comfortable playing the reverse sweep? “I am comfortable. For me it’s important to give my best in the nets. Do that I think 5-6 maybe more than that. If I am comfortable in the game, maybe I will play that shot,” Rahane said.
India will play a Test after a gap of three months. Virat Kohli and co have since then been playing white-ball cricket against Australia and more recently New Zealand. Rahane, though, said shifting formats won’t be an issue.
“The team shape is good. We all know how to adjust in different formats. We are all professionals so there won’t be any problem,” the 29-year-old said.
“Yesterday we had a good practice session so it won’t be difficult to adjust. First Test is important to get the momentum. I am sure preparation will be good before the first Test.”
Rahane not worried over batting form
Kolkata, Nov 14 (IANS) India vice captain and premier batsman Ajinkya Rahane is not losing sleep over his recent failures to convert starts into big scores.
The 29-year old, set to take the field against Sri Lanka in the first of the three Tests starting here at the Eden Gardens on Thursday, has scores of 5, 55, 70, 53, 61 in his last five international One-Day International (ODI) matches against Australia.
In the domestic circuit, the Mumbai batsman registered two ducks in the second and first innings against Odisha and Baroda respectively but also notched up 49 and 45 in the other two innings of the same matches.
Rahane did not play a single match against New Zealand.
In his last Test against the Sri Lankans in the latter’s own lair, Rahane scored 17 in the first innings.
“I am not too concerned about that. I am batting really well. I got four fifties in a row in the one-day series,” Rahane told reporters here.
“Yes I got out on 49 and 45 in Ranji Trophy but for me it was important to play as many balls as possible and get that practice for the Test series. See if you score 40-50 or if you score 100 plus run, I mean 40-50 also matters a lot for a team. In the last game for us in Mumbai, at one point it was really crucial,” he added.
A lot is being said about India keeping a firm eye on the South Africa tour while preparing for Sri Lanka who are not likely to pose a great threat to the top ranked Test outfit.
India will play three Tests, six ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) starting January 5 in South Africa. Rahane though said the team is not focussing entirely on the Proteas challenge just yet and if they want to remain the best side in the longest format of the game, they have to take every series seriously.
“See South Africa will be completely different. Right now for us, if we want to be the No 1 team every series is really important. We want to win each and every match and each and every series. This series is very important. They have been preparing really well so we don’t want to take them any lightly. We are just concentrating in this series,” he said.
Asked about the team’s workload being an issue with all-rounder Hardik Pandya rested for the Lanka series, Rahane said: “It is important to manage yourself as a professional athlete. Training is really important as well as recovery. So we focus on our training sessions, we focus on our recovery sessions, ice baths, pool sessions, massages..team management is taking care of all the aspect. It is to take care of yourself as in future we will be playing a lot of matches. Recovery will be very important for us.”
India will play three Tests, three ODIS and three T20s against the islanders.