I keep a close eye on Virat Kohli's batting, especially his footwork: Rajat Patidar

In a conversation on ‘Match Centre Live’ on JioCinema and Sports18, India batter Rajat Patidar, who made his Test debut today, spoke about his knock, at the end of Day 1 of the 2^nd Test against England in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

On his debut innings: “The debut was different, there were nerves at the start but after a couple of balls, everything settled. I have played a lot of domestic cricket on similar wickets and the spin attack was not very dangerous and so it became easy.” 

On his dismissal: “I was playing well, was in good touch, I tried stopping the ball, but it bounced and moved fast inside. I feel I should have come back and played it, off the back foot. That would have saved my wicket.” 

On comeback after injury: “There was never any doubt about me making it big again, after the injury. The injuries have happened before, and I knew how to prepare myself and keep up with performances.” 

On sharing the dressing room with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma: “Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are my idols. It feels great and I gain confidence to share the dressing room with my idols, I try to learn as much as I can from them. I keep a close eye on Virat's batting, especially his footwork, and with Rohit, his nature and skill level is extremely high and that fascinates me a lot.” 

Zaheer Khan spoke of Jaiswal’s batting, saying: “Jaiswal is going to have that hunger for runs and a double hundred will be on his mind. For him, Day 1 was phenomenal and it’s all about resetting going into day 2. He’s got everything – particularly the ability to shift gears and set the pace, understanding different situations and tackling them.

During the first session, he was cautious and in the second he took the gear a notch higher and was scoring at a better pace. When the wickets were falling - he was controlling. So, I think he’s in a good zone right now to make these innings count. For India, it’s of utmost priority that Jaiswal continues to have that mindset to put them back into the driver’s seat.”

Owais Shah analysed Jaiswal’s batting, saying: “He is an all-round player, and if we notice he has wonderful abilities, but what impressed me the most was his concentration. You have talent, and that is why you are representing your country but the concentration and the match temperament that he has at such a young age has impressed me the most.”