Bangladesh will come really hard at us: Rahane
India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said that in no way India will be taking Bangladesh lightly when the two sides meet in their first of the two Tests at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Thursday.
Bangladesh started their tour of India with a seven-wicket victory in the three-match T20I series earlier this month. India, the number one side in Tests, outplayed South Africa as the Virat Kohli led side whitewashed the Proteas in the three-match Test series last October. However, Rahane thought that Bangladesh will be throwing in some new challenges at India and that they need to be wary of a compact Bangladesh side.
“Bangladesh are a good team. They play as a unit. I thought we played really well against South Africa and that's in the past now. We always stay in the present, we always think about one series at a time, one match at a time. We won't take Bangladesh lightly.
“I am sure Bangladesh will come really hard at us, and they will give their best to win this Test match and the Test series. For us it is really important that we focus on our strengths to stay in the present. Let's not look in the past, what happened against South Africa. I think every series comes with a different challenge, Bangladesh comes with a different challenge. We're going to respect that and we're going to play to our strengths.” said Rahane to the reporters in Indore today.
After the Indore Test, Bangladesh and India will be playing the Kolkata Test, starting from November 22 with the pink ball. Rahane, who has practised with the pink ball for the first time in the past few days said that the pink ball cricket is totally a different ball game. However, the 31-year old batsman informed that they are focusing on the Indore Test for now and will be thinking about the pink-ball Test later.
“Bangladesh is a very good team. They compete, the play as a team, play as a unit. With (World) Test Championship every match is equally important. We like to take one game at a time which is Indore now. We are focussing on this Test and then we’ll think about Kolkata. We completely respect the Bangladesh team and going to play to our strength rather than thinking about theirs.”
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