We are open to challenges, says Bangar

Less than an hour’s play was possible on the first day of the first Test between India and Sri Lanka, but the visitor made hay even though the sun hardly shone at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday (November 16.)

India was reduced to 17 for 3 in just 11.5 overs by Suranga Lakmal's brilliant display in bowler-friendly conditions. Sanjay Bangar, India's batting coach, believed playing in such conditions was similar to a day-night Test, where picking the red ball was difficult.

"The conditions were pretty tough for batting and what didn’t really help us was that we didn't get an extended passage of play, wherein you had 15-20 overs bowled at a batsman in a particular fashion,” said Bangar. “So that didn't allow the batsmen to get into any sort of a rhythm. It was very similar to a day-night Test match, it didn't seem to be a day Test match. At times, when you play in such circumstances, playing with the red ball becomes pretty tough because it's more difficult to pick it.”

Respecting the conditions as a batsman and having the right mindset held the key to success, according to Bangar. "You'll have to grind out quite a bit because there are going to be a lot of balls which are going to beat the outside edge as well as the inside edge of the bat. We need to respect the conditions as a batsman and think about the next ball. If you start thinking or worrying about the amount of times you're getting beaten, it plays on your mind. The best mindset is to forget the previous ball and accept that you're going to get beaten on a number of occasions. Probably on such a wicket, you might not play really, really beautiful shots, but you'll have to grind it out and take runs. Most of the runs might not be beautiful or elegant but those are equally important runs."

India's composition gives the team depth in the lower order and a lot of bowling options, Bangar insisted. "This team management has believed in going in with five batsmen and the quality of the allrounders that we have [R] Ashwin, (Ravindra) Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and also Wriddhiman Saha — we think that that gives a lot of depth in the lower order and it gives us a lot of bowling options as well to pick up 20 wickets in a Test match. That has really worked well for us. If you look at the last two-and-a-half seasons, we've won nearly 20 Test matches. That's mainly due to the team composition that we have opted to play.

“I think we've got all bases covered. As the game progresses into the fourth and fifth day, you'll also find that because of the dampness, there would be dents on the wickets. As the game progresses, there would be variable bounce which might come into play. Both spinners are really vital to us — we've got the swing and seam and the pace we require. We've got a variety of bowlers,” he added.

On match eve, Virat Kohli said he wanted his side to build its game to play anywhere in the world and not wait for the conditions to suit its game. Bangar reiterated that India was open to the challenges of playing on such a pitch in difficult conditions.

"We all expected the conditions in Kolkata to be like this. We want to approach, assess and adapt to the conditions that are offered to us here. We're happy to play on wickets like this. This is a team which really doesn’t want to play in easy conditions. We're challenging ourselves and most of the players are open to such challenges and we want to continue improving as a team.

“Even the Test we played last year after the wicket was re-laid here in Kolkata, it was against New Zealand and it was a similar sort of wicket. We played that Test match really well, applied ourselves. I think we're ready for the challenge," he added.

Bangar was all praise for Lakmal, who took advantage of the conditions and rattled India's top order by sending back KL Rahul and Kohli for noughts, and Shikhar Dhawan for eight. However, the batting coach also backed his batsmen. "He put the ball in the right place. He's an experienced bowler and the conditions suited him. Some of the balls that got our batsmen — like KL Rahul and Virat Kohli — you can't really fault them for their shot-selection. Those were really, really good balls. Credit to him that he put the ball in the right place and let the wicket do the rest."