My partnership with Rathod is turning point: Wadkar

Talking to media persons, Wadkar said, “Being five down at that stage, we didn’t want to lose any more wickets. Both of us decided to play cautiously without getting tied down because there was only Sarvate who was the proper batsman. Our strategy was to score and runs and not to lose wickets”.

Wadkar was happy over the implementation of planning perfectly. Asked what was the strategy in the innings he said, “ “Our strategy was to bat first and post a big total because we know that in the fourth innings, it becomes difficult to chase even a 200-250 total. In this match we didn’t bat well in the first innings. But the team put up a better performance in the second essay. Yash Rathod played well. We knew that any target above 250 would be defendable. As planned, both Aditya and Yash targeted the stumps. Aditya has the ability to cut the ball, which he did today,” Wadkar said.

Asked whether it was a part of a strategy to use heavy roller he said, “ Yes it was a part of the strategy because of increasing heat. The ball was coming low. Our batting was almost over and they had to bat. The effect of heavy roller was seen even today” he said.

Aksed whether they were relaxed after MP losing sixth wicket in the form of Yash Rathod who scored 92 on the fourth day , Vidarbha stumper sid, “ We were not completely relaxed. Each wicket was important for us because we knew that any remaining batsman can score runs. We concentrated on not to give easy boundaries and bowl stump to stump”.