Sanjay Bangar stressed that India is in a good space and primed to perform in the World Cup semifinal. He praised Rohit Sharma’s consistency and also backed the middle-order. India’s batting coach spoke at Headingley here on Saturday after Virat Kohli’s men defeated Sri Lanka by seven wickets. Excerpts.
Rohit the class act: The secret behind his great progress in ODIs is that he understands his game and has a template which he follows and it has given him success. On a tour, based on the conditions and the country we are playing, we interact as to what tweaks could be added. But all credit to him because he has worked hard and for any batsman to get five hundreds (in the World Cup) is very special. It is not just about his personal success; he is also helping K.L. Rahul and giving him the space that is required. From the team’s point of view, these contributions are very critical.
Middle-order blues? I don’t think so because whoever has got to bat, obviously they haven't got to bat for longer periods of time except for the Afghanistan game. Apart from that, Hardik (Pandya), Mahi (M.S. Dhoni) and Rishabh (Pant) have got some knocks under their belt. So they are in good nick.
New Zealand in the semis: We played in New Zealand and played five games against them. So we know what they are capable of and what their strengths are and we will keep an eye on that.