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Eden wicket two-paced, we were irresponsible: Rahane

30th September 2016

Sayan Banerjee

It takes a lot of guts to own up a mistake and to do it openly before the media needs honesty and bravery.
While, expressing surprise at the two-paced wicket here at Eden Gardens, Ajinkya Rahane said he and Cheteshwar Pujara were to blame for the tight spot India was in at the end of the first day of the Test against New Zealand.
"I think we did not bat well. There were soft dismissals. Me and (Cheteshwar) Pujara were well set. We were playing good. At least one of us should have carried on and scored a hundred. It was our responsibility to see the day through," Rahane said at a post match press meet.
He also expressed surprise at the wicket at Eden Gardens. "The wicket was two paced. Generally the wicket here in Kolkata is flat and a good batting track. But today it had something for the pacers. The spinners also got good grip. I thought the wicket was two paced," he said.
Asked if he was disappointed at not getting his century, he said: "When we bat we dont think of centuries. We read the situation and bat accordingly.After tea we lost focus and played loose shots and perished. But Wriddhiman Saha and (Ravinder) Jadeja are there and if they can add some 75 to 8-0 runs and we reach around 325 it will be a good first innings score."
Reiterating that it was not easy to bat, he praised the Kiwi bowlers especially Matt Henry and Jetan Patel. "Throughout the day they maintained a tight line and length. They never gave away anything."
For the Kiwis their gameplan worked. They wanted to squeeze out the flow of run and did that successfully. Matt Henry, the most successful bowler of the day, later said: "We knew that if we choke the flow of runs they would make mistake, This is what we did after tea and the two well set batsmen fell."
"The bowlers did a very good job. They were disciplined and worked very hard throughout the day. They did not give away anything easily. We hope to carry on the good work tomorrow and peg India back," he added.