Visakhapatnam, Dec 3: Slamming 86 runs off 66 balls, Ravi Rampaul set a new record for No. 10 batsmen with an audacious innings that helped his team set India a respectable target in the second ODI. His 99-run stand with Kemar Roach for the tenth wicket took West Indies to 269 after being nine wickets down for 170 runs.
In the post-match media conference, the pacer spoke about his batting.
Excerpts:
On his batting
At the end the performance that I had with the bat really didn’t matter; we didn’t quite finish the game the way we wanted to but we are learning as a team and hopefully we will get across the line soon.
On whether he surprised himself with his innings
No, I didn’t surprise myself. I know I am a capable batsman. After being seven or eight down, it was up to me try to put up a target or score on the board so I just played my natural game and it came through. It was one of those days when everything went my way while batting so I reaped the rewards.
On the reasons for the failure of the rest of the batting line-up
Probably our shot selection wasn’t [good]. You have to give credit to the Indian bowlers; they bowled pretty well. The wicket was moving around so I guess it’s just lack of application at the crease.
On why some of the batsmen seemed to play defensively
The ball was moving around and the pitch was assisting the bowlers, so you couldn’t go out and play your shots. That’s probably the reason some of the batsmen were playing defensively. They were probably trying to give themselves a chance at the wicket but it didn’t come off.
On whether he had singled out R Ashwin for his batting assault
No, basically I just tried to look at the different balls that he was bowling and the ball didn’t do much when I was batting there. I just played each ball on its merit
On whether it hurts as a bowler when fielders drop catches
Yeah, it hurts but you know – that’s cricket. You really don’t go out there to drop catches. [I am] sure my teammates don’t want to drop catches. It’s part of cricket [and] hopefully we can get better at it.
On not being able to capitalise on the early wickets
Probably the little [rain-induced] break broke our momentum. It slowed us down a little bit. When we came back out it was hard for us to find the right line and length at the wicket. I think we bowled a little short and not consistent enough.
On the Indian batsmen
They batted pretty well, paced themselves and assessed the wicket and just went about their way.
