Rahane: 'Batsmen will have to be patient in Windies'

"Patience will be the key here and it is not going to be easy to score runs for the batsmen. But if you focus and concentrate well, once you get settled, it will be very easy to bat on," said Ajinkya Rahane.

Given his good overseas record, India will hope for Ajinkya Rahane to fire in the upcoming series.

Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane feels that the batsmen will have to be patient if they want to succeed in the upcoming four-Test series against the West Indies.

“We have discussed about all these factors as a batting unit,” said Rahane on Monday.

“We have talked about how to bat on the slower tracks. Patience will be the key here and it is not going to be easy to score runs for the batsmen. But if you focus and concentrate well, once you get settled, it will be very easy to bat on. Even the bowlers have to bowl very disciplined line and lengths here and be patient.”

“I think as a batting unit we have been doing really well. As much as we are learnt from the South Africa series, it is all about focussing on this series now.

Rahane on tackling Windies

“Once you get set, it is important to make each and every session count, because we will have to give time for our bowlers. It is not easy to take 20 wickets on these slower tracks. As a batting unit we will have to take responsibility and I think one or two batsmen will have to get set and score big here,” said the middle-order batsman.

“I don't think we will have to change anything really. We will have to cut out some shots initially, and after that when you get used to the conditions, you will play your shots.

On Monday, the wicket at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium here bore a brownish hue, with only a few patches of fresh grass to hold it in together.

If it retains its look, it will be similar to the wickets turned out for the two practice games in St. Kitts.

“I think we will get similar tracks (in the Tests) but here we will have to wait until July 21 to see how the wicket finally looks like. But in St. Kitts it was a really slow track, a bit similar to Indian wickets and we are preparing for slow tracks in the series. So the two practice matches were really crucial for us and this first game will give us momentum,” said Rahane.

Rahane praised the bowlers for their persistence during the two warm-up games.

“I think all the boys did really well in the two practice games, especially bowlers because wickets were slightly on the slower side. Even the spinners did well, Amit Mishra in the first game, then R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja bowled in partnership in the second game,” he said.