India's assistant coach Sanjay Bangar defended out-of-form batsman Ajinkya Rahane, by reminding his doubters on his brilliant overseas record and has assured that it is just a matter of time before the 29-year-old will start scoring big.
Rahane's poor form in the ongoing 3-match Test series against Sri Lanka continued after he was stumped by wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella off Lakshan Sandakan's bowling for just one run from five balls. It was followed by scores of 2, 4 and 0 in the previous two Test matches.
However, the assistant coach is confident that he will bounce back soon.
"He would be disappointed in the manner he got out. He is somebody who works hard on his game like all players do. May be last match and this match, he erred in shot selection. He is a quality player and has the ability to bounce back quickly," he said at the post-match press conference here on Saturday.
"Rahane's overseas record is phenomenal. That speaks the quality that he possesses. He has performed when the chips are down and he is somebody who must be hurt with his dismissal, but he is too good a player to not be making runs for a long time," he added.
Bangar also stressed on the importance of a coach's role in interacting with the players, saying the preparation for all players is similar.
"I think a coach should be consistent as to how he interacts with a particular player. Every player wants to work on a certain aspect of his game and raise the bar. Irrespective of a player's form, our preparation for all players is similar.
"As far as confidence is concerned, if any player is not in good form, it also depends on his attitude also - whether negative thoughts creep into the system or not and how one can counter and transform the negative thoughts into positive thoughts. These are things we discuss. The hunger is same in all players," he said.
Bangar also defended the curators, saying that only so much can be done to get the pitch they want as it all depends on the nature of the soil in the end.
"The nature of surfaces cannot be consistent since we are a diverse country and as we hop from region to region, the nature of the pitch is changed. Even though we wanted to have a wicket with pace and bounce, with a bit of grass cover, the curators can only do so much because it all depends on nature of the soil, which is peculiar to the region.
"You can't expect a Mumbai wicket to play like a Delhi wicket and a Kolkata wicket to play like a Nagpur wicket. So that's the beauty of cricket. You may want something but the curator is never able to give you what you want because of the peculiar nature of the track and diverse conditions in such a vast country that we live in," he elaborated.
He also explained that players are selected for the playing eleven only based on the form.
"Team management is very clear that it is basically the form and the form of the player. And because we are so spoilt for choices, everybody is batting well and whoever is getting that opportunity is making it count. Team management is very clear that the current form and the way in which the mindset of the player is going to be paramount in picking the final XI," he added.
KL Rahul, who played in both the previous Test matches, was dropped on Saturday to accommodate the returning Shikhar Dhawan.
"It does affect the rhythm. It is hard on some players that they have to miss out. It is the dilemma of the selection. But the players understand these things. Somebody like Shikhar, who has been in brilliant form not just here but also in Sri Lanka, has set the tone for the series with a brilliant century. And when you have a left-arm bowler or off-spinner, you need to fact in that as well. So you need to consider the combination of the opposition attack and think if a left-right combination can counter it better when you pick the final XI," he explained.
Bangar stressed that the players understand that when playing with five batsmen, it is important for those five to take the responsibility on their shoulders to score big.
"In the last two and a half and three years under Kohli's leadership, the team-management has opted for difficult choices — play with five batsmen. And the kind of development the lower-order has shown, allows us to play with five batsmen. But the responsibility and ownership also lies with the top-order, whoever gets in wants to make it big and they have embraced it well.
"You can see when they score 100 they have converted into big scores. The number of big scores that we have had is purely because they understand the responsibility taking into account that team is a batsman short and how somebody who is set can make big contribution to the team and get a decisive result in the Test match," he concluded.