Ajinkya Rahane defends timing of declaration after draw

Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane said it was a good game of cricket after New Zealand escaped with a draw on Day 5 of the Kanpur Test on Monday and defended the decision to declare late on Day 4.

New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel came up with a determined performance to hold off the Indian spinners in the final hour of the Test to earn a commendable draw as the hosts ended the Test one wicket away from victory. Talking in the post-match presentation, Ajinkya Rahane said: “[on the timing of the declaration] Not really, we tried our best. They played really well. I think the way we came back in the second session was good. The fast bowlers too bowled really well. We wanted to get that partnership going, put some runs on board. Saha and Axar batted really well. Before that Shreyas and Ashwin’s partnership was crucial. We wanted to bowl four overs yesterday and 90-95 in all. I don’t think we could have done anything differently.”

“The chat with the umpires was about the light. As a fielding team, you want to bowl more overs, as a batting unit you don’t want to bat in that situation. The chat was about the light, but umpires made the call and I thought they were right,” Rahane said about his chat after the stumps on Day 5.

“I thought on this wicket the spinners had to bowl long spells. It was all about rotating the bowlers and they bowled really well. I am really happy for Shreyas. He had to wait a long time for his Test debut. He batted really well. The way works, his record in FC cricket is really good,” he added.

“Virat is coming back for the next game. We’ll have to wait and see till the Mumbai game. I am not going to make any comments but the management will make a call,” Rahane pointed.The two sides will now face off in Mumbai for the second and the final Test of the series on December 3 with the score evenly poised.