We have fought really well in the last few days: Sanjay Bangar

India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels that the last two days of the 2nd Test between India and Austalia at the M Chinnaswamy stadium could produce ‘exhilarating stuff’. India were bundled out for 189 on the day 1 of the five-day match on Saturday. But they have now fought back in the 2nd innings to hold a 126-run lead with 6 wickets remaining.

Half-centuries from KL Rahul (51) and Cheteshwar Pujara (79 not out) on the 3rd day took the hosts to 213/4 in 72 overs. Earlier, Australia were bowled out for 276, with a first innings lead of 87. With the pitch posing a big challenge for batsmen, India will still be looking to stretch the lead past the 200-run mark and even further.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli is averaging 10 with the bat in the ongoing Test series, speaking about Kohli’s rare failures, Sanjay Bangar said, “Virat’s batting has been outstanding. So we should not be commenting on one or two failures when he has been so successful. Virat’s mindset is that he will learn from failures. This is his greatness. In the coming matches, he will perform well.”

When Bangar was asked about the state of the match after the end of day’s play today, he said no team was ahead at the moment. “The game hangs very much in the balance. We have to bat really well in the next two sessions and take it from there,” Bangar told reporters.

“We have fought really well in the last few days. After having the setback of not scoring runs in the first innings, clawing our back, the team has stuck together, not letting the game run away from. Coming back from the second session we didn’t lose any wickets and consolidated the third session. Overall I think, What lies ahead could be exhilarating stuff,” he added.

When Bangar was asked what target India were looking to set the visitors, he refused to pick a number. “Cannot put a number to the runs that are required or the overs that are required or set any target because we know that there are two really competitive sides fighting to get that advantage and we are only looking to come out tomorrow, have a good first session and take it from there, he said.

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The Indian batting coach felt that the Indian opener KL Rahul needs to go an extra mile and play big innings in the upcoming Tests, “It’s not being happy with a 50 or 100 but batsmen who are wanting to go that extra mile, put in the hard work and play a big innings which will have an eventual impact on the state of the match.

KL Rahul was seen throwing away his wicket after getting settled with half-century scores in three of his last four innings, speaking about this, Bangar said, “It’s something that we want him to improve in the games to come because he is a quality player. Probably in the series and matches to come, he will definitely put a price on his wicket and we’ll see less of those unforced errors.”