India are well behind the eight ball in the opening Test but fielding coach Ramakrishnan Sridhar was hopeful the batsmen will make up for the poor display by the bowlers.
“We must give credit to the Australian batsmen who countered the conditions and the regular rain breaks. They made good use of this good Test wicket and they have put up runs on the board,” said Sridhar after the second day’s play.
“We had our plans and tried executing them. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t work, but we must give credit to the batsmen.
“The skipper (Virat Kohli) gave a very positive talk at the end of the day’s play. We are here as a cricket unit to play good cricket.
"We back each other at all times. The batsmen are very confident that they will make up for the bowlers.
India also had a forgettable day in the field as they dropped three catches, while wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha missed a stumping.
The only positive for the visitors has been the slip catching with Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan holding on to their chances.
“Vijay and Shikhar are very good slip fielders. Virat does a good job at third slip. Ajinkya Rahane is very good at gully. So this will be our slip combination going ahead," he said.
"We need to have some patience for results. Like our batting order, our slip fielding is also under a transition.
“For a major part of the innings, the fielding was good. Even in ground fielding, everyone was chipping in. Yes, there were a few
dropped chances, but it was down to the many rain breaks and conditions."
Sridhar is part of the new coaching set up brought in after the Test series loss in England earlier this year. However, things don’t seem to have changed much with fielding still an issue with the Indians.
“Nobody is happy when you put down catches. But the point is in giving our best effort. The players are working really hard. As long as effort is there, there will be both good days and bad days."
