KOLKATA: India might be in big trouble at the end of first day's play of the first Test against Sri Lanka on Thursday, but the team management has no complaints about the Eden pitch.
"We are happy to play on pitches like these. We like to challenge ourselves and most players are open to such challenges," assistant coach
Sanjay Bangar said after the end of day's play.
"The last Test here (
Eden Gardens
) was on similar surface against New Zealand after it was relaid. We played that Test really well and applied ourselves. We are ready for this challenge too," he stated.
Talking about batting on such a track, Bangar said, "You will have to grind it out. There will be a lot of ball beating the edges. The best approach will be to forget the previous ball and accept that you will be beaten a number of times."
Lankan bowling coach
Rumesh Ratnayake, who was surprised to see such a pitch in the sub-continent, was happy with his boys' show.
"I would love to see such tracks as a fast bowling coach. But I don't know if it's the best option if you are looking at five-day games on such surfaces. But grassy pitches, I believe, will give a 50-50 chance to both teams, although it might be a nightmarish experience for batsmen," he said.
Ratnayake had a very simple piece of advice for his bowlers. "I just told them to keep the ball up as much as possible to push the batsmen back on the crease," he stated.
He agreed that
Lahiru Gamage faltered in his line at the initial stage, but felt the seamer got better after the first rain break. "It was a matter of getting his rhythm right. You cannot rush through your over but rather take time to pitch it in the right areas," Ratnayake remarked.
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