Ajinkya Rahane explains how he improved his slip catching by taking 100 catches every session

After India steamrolled the Sri Lankans in the Second Test match at Colombo, the Indian Cricket Team’s Facebook Handle recently revealed a video of an interview between Pujara and Rahane. Ajinkya Rahane, who picked up six catches in the Test match, disclosed about the efforts he puts in the training session to improve as a slip fielder, by volunteering for 100 catches in each session.

Jinx and Pujara have been instrumental in stitching defining partnership in Test cricket off-late. The most memorable partnership between the two takes us back to March this year, where their partnership took the game away from the Australians in the second innings at Bengaluru while setting the target for the visitors.

In the Colombo Test match as well, India was precariously placed at 133-3, as the Sri Lankans saw the back of Indian skipper Virat Kohli. However, Pujara and Rahane steadied the Indian ship and took the game away with their mammoth partnership. Pujara scored 133 while Rahane scored a solid 132.

“I remember incidents from my childhood when I used to drop a lot of catches in slips. That’s when I realized that it was not right. I did not feel good when I would be removed from one position and shifted elsewhere. It hurt me and that’s when I decided to work on the slip (fielding) aspect,” claimed Ajinkya Rahane when asked about his improvement as slip fielder.

Pujara drew comparisons to his fielding standards with one of the best slip fielders ever produced by the name of Rahul Dravid. “Last time when we toured, I had a discussion with our fielding coach and decided that I will take 100 catches every session. I wanted to be one of the best in the slip quadrant. I started working on that and I am still working on that,” added Jinx, revealing about his fielding drills.

Here’s the interview between the heroes of Colombo Test