Rajput draws inspiration from Australia-Pakistan match
Lalchand Rajput
||CF Correspondent||
It’s now rare in a Test match to bat for a whole day to hold on to a draw but Australia did the rare thing in recent past, eking out a draw against Pakistan thanks to stubborn knocks from Usman Khawaza and skipper Tim Paine.
Zimbabwe coach Lalchand Rajput reminded his charges about that match to save the Test against Bangladesh and win the series.
“Cricket is a game of uncertainties. You never know what will happen. It just takes one or two big partnerships. It’s happened. If you look at the earlier games like Pakistan Australia, they really saved a Test match. Khawaja batted the whole day.
“So we hope somebody stands up and bats a session, because it’s just a question of three sessions. So if you can bat one session, then slowly we can [do it]. But we’ll be positive, and hopefully we can save the Test match,” Rajput said.
With 76/2, Zimbabwe still require 367 runs to win the game, which is an improbable task. The best that team can do is to survive the whole day. The Indian-born coach believes Zimbabwe have the batters to do the tough job.
“The first hour will be very key. If Brendan (Taylor) and Sean Williams can bat through, then the pressure will be on the fielding side,” he remarked.
Lalchand emphasized on not giving the pitch condition a thought as he urged his charges to go with a mindset to play on the merit of the ball.
He said: “We don’t think about the pitch now. You just have to go to a mindset that you play on the merit of the ball. The pitch is not in our control, it’s uncontrollable, so the main thing is to back your defense, back your instinct, and play the ball on merit. If the ball pops up or something, it’s unfortunate, but at least you’re there to try and defend.
“Hopefully we go with a positive frame of mind to play each and every ball as it comes, and play sessions. Wait for the loose deliveries. You’ve got to try and score runs as well, and hopefully we bat sessions.”
