Chennai, Jan 21: Having scored 57 runs on Day 3 of the ongoing final against Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan’s Robin Bist is sitting on top of the list of the leading run-getters of the Ranji Trophy’s 2011-12 season. The batsman spoke about the defending champions’ journey to the summit clash at the end of day press conference.
Excerpts from Bist’s media interaction:
On being on the right track for the second season consecutively
The three wickets that we have taken is the best thing for us. They are the best men in the Tamil Nadu team. [...] We have to take seven wickets more [and] there are two days remaining so we can’t say anything about it [till that happens].
On the batsmen in the TN batting line-up who can still pose a threat
Dinesh Karthik, [R] Prasanna, [K] Vasudevadas – these three batsmen have batted very well throughout the season. We have to get them out as early as possible [on Day 4].
On whether Rajasthan bowled a little fuller in comparison with the Tamil Nadu bowlers
Yes, absolutely, [it’s a] slow and low track. It is a very good track to bat on [but] the batsman has to apply himself. We have bowled to our plan and succeeded. Our bowlers really bowled well.
On getting three wickets with the new ball but on the expected results with the slowing wicket, older ball and widening cracks
There are cracks in the wicket. With the old ball it’s difficult to get wickets but on this track the bowlers have to apply themselves. Today the bowlers have taken more than 12 wickets [...]. It’s not a dead track. [...]
On how he worked towards becoming the highest run-getter
It feels really good to be the highest run-getter. I’m on top of the world. Abhinav [Mukund] was the second and now he is the third [leading run-getter after me]. Cricket is a very funny game, you can’t [predict events]. I have to take every innings very seriously. Every innings [I have to] change my position. [I] am not thinking about this [ranking]. I have to just go there and bat and that’s all I do.
On Vineet Saxena’s marathon innings
We now say, ‘You are Don Bradman for us.’ He batted for two and a half days. [He has played a] tremendous, out of the world [innings] for us. He is a man who has great patience and good shot selection. This wicket really suited his game because he is a good front-footer. On this kind of track, where the ball is getting low and slow, a front-footer can get runs easily.
On whether Rajasthan would ask TN to bat if the opportunity presented itself
Let’s see [...] I don’t know. First we have to take seven wickets [on Day 4]. We will decide after that.
On the reason behind the quick fall of Rajasthan wickets
It was just to accelerate the scoring because we had decided to make 600 runs as early as possible [...]
On whether they had planned to declare at tea
Yes.
On the difference in the dressing room while defending the title this season
It’s a positive frame of mind, positive thinking and the bowlers have got the areas where they have to bowl [right]. At the start of the season we just [decided to] go [out] there and we didn’t have any plans. But after [the game against] Saurashtra we got [on] the right track and there was a positive vibe – everybody in the dressing room was talking positively. Before [the] start of this game everybody was saying Tamil Nadu [were] the big guns with the big players. Yes, six or seven players from Tamil Nadu are playing for India. But cricket is a game where [big] names and big runs don’t matter. [What] matters is the ball coming in from the bowler’s hand and you have to play that. That’s all we are talking about. We have to play one ball [at a time], that’s it, and we have to bowl the one ball [in] the right area. That’s all we are thinking about and that’s all we are doing right now. [...]
On whether TN expected wickets to fall so quickly
No [...] We have bowled [in] the right areas and it has worked for us [...] We knew we had to work hard to get wickets. [...]
On Rituraj Singh
This guy has the right attitude for cricket. [...] He knows [the] Chennai wicket quite well. He trained at MRF [Pace Academy]. He bowls at a decent pace, about 125 -130 kmph, and knows where [he] has to bowl [...].
