Batting On Chinnaswamy Pitch Was A Challenge: Matt Renshaw

After helping Australia get off to a solid start in their first innings, opener Matt Renshaw said on Sunday that he found batting a challenge here in Bangalore as the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch was a tricky one.

Renshaw, who made the team’s second-highest score 60 so far, said that while he knew that the first Test pitch in Pune was surely going to help spinners, but in Bangalore he discovered that it was entirely different from that.

“I think Pune we knew was going to spin. This one, we don't really know which one is going to spin. That's the challenge. Some are turning quite a lot, some are not turning as much, some are going on with the angle. It’s trying to play for the one that doesn't turn and then if it goes past the bat, it goes past the bat,” Renshaw told reporters after the second day’s play.

“But it's probably a bit harder against the quicks because it's not bouncing as much or some are going up.”

Australia were ahead of India by 48 runs, with four wickets in hand, when they finished the second day at 237 for six wickets, replying to India’s 189. Renshaw scored 60 of them, off 196 balls (5x4s, 1x6) – the second highest after Shaun Marsh’s top score of 66 (197 balls, 4x4s).

“I think every run is vital. We sort of felt like we were just about to get on top of the game when I got out, so it’s quite frustrating from that point of view. If we’d got a few more runs, me and Shaun Marsh, we could have had complete control of the game,” rued the 20-year-old who was born in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire.

Left-handed Renshaw also disclosed that India captain Virat Kohli was indulging in some funny talk on the field.

“I don't try and say too much out there. I just try to smile, because in my past experience, smiling seems to unnerve the bowlers a bit more than talking back. They seemed to get quite frustrated,” Renshaw said.

“I was just trying to enjoy it and laugh at what he was saying because some of it was quite funny. He [Kohli] was just reminding me to run off and go to the toilet again, which happened in Pune, so it was quite funny. We all took it pretty well and we know that they’re trying to get under our skin because we've got a one-nil lead in the series.”
Renshaw said that Kohli also had a chat with his counterpart Steven Smith.

“There was a bit of talk, but I think that's because they’re trying to unnerve each other and try and get under the skin. But it was all good fun and good contest out there. It was really loud out there when he was doing that. It's something I'm probably not used to, but it's about embracing different conditions and challenges that we get,”