England vs India: Sanjay Bangar accepts that players are under pressure and are playing to save careers

The Indian team has been under the scanner after having lost the first two Tests against England at Edgbaston and Lord’s. From fans to critics, the bashing and criticism has flown thick and fast and the Virat Kohli-led side seems to be trying to redeem themselves in the third Test at Trent Bridge. Assistant coach of the team, Sanjay Bangar spoke at length about the pressure looming on the boys and the way they’re dealing with it.

Having won the toss, the hosts put India in to bat on a green wicket and the top order gave a much better account of themselves than they had in the first two matches of the series. Aided by two brilliant knocks from Ajinkya Rahane (81) and skipper Virat Kohli (97), the visitors were able to put up a total of 307/6 at stumps on the first day.

Bangar admits the pressure on players

Not one but quite a few individuals in the team know there’s a sword hanging on their heads and Trent Bridge might well be their last chance to regain the confidence of the team management and the masses.

Talking at length at the end of the first day’s play at Trent Bridge, Bangar said, “The players themselves are under tremendous pressure – they are playing for their careers. We understand that. To make at times when things don’t really work in your favour, it is important to maintain composure, have the same sort of sense whether things are going well or not going well. Maintaining your equilibrium, that helps.”

He went on to elaborate on their performance in the away games played in the past few months and their results.

“All of us understand clearly there is no magic wand we can work on any batsman. You have to understand the last five Test matches we played abroad have been in really trying conditions except for the Centurion Test. Take the Johannesburg Test, which we from within the group believe was one of our best performances, not in terms of the number of runs but the victory we achieved in trying circumstances. So what we value is that Test win over any Test win we have had,” said Bangar.

Bangar lauds the Indian openers in the third Test

The Indian team played with the third possible opening combination at Trent Bridge, it was Shikhar Dhawan back to open the innings with KL Rahul and the duo were up for it this time. They looked in no hurry, were willing to let the ball go and at the same time didn’t miss out on scoring opportunities. A key difference was that they waited back before committing to a shot and that gave them more time to judge the ball better.

Appreciative of the way the Indian top order absorbed the pressure in the third Test to put up a strong defence, the assistant coach said, “The way Shikhar (Dhawan) made the changes to his batting, the way he reduced his bat speed, the way he played the ball later, these adjustments he made in the last 6-7 days, he should get credit. KL Rahul, too, was playing on the back foot, and he was reacting after the ball’s movement. These changes the batsmen have made make me hopeful for the rest of the series.”

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