Press Trust of India
Galle, August 14: Pleased with his world record feat of eight catches in a Test match, Ajinkya Rahane credited Friday former India skipper Rahul Dravid for guiding him on slip catching and overall fielding.
Rahane became the first fielder in Test history to take eight catches in a game, achieving the feat in the ongoing first cricket match against Sri Lanka here.
“We had a very good talk during IPL about what he used to do when he used to stand in the slips,” revealed Rahane on working closely with Dravid, who used to man the slip cordon for India during his playing days.
“He (Dravid) told me that focus and concentration were really important things. In Tests sometimes the ball will not come for a long time and suddenly you have to grab that one chance that comes. That temperament has to be there and I have been working on my slip catching and my overall fielding,” he said at the post match press conference here.
Rahane said he wasn’t aware of his world record feat until his teammates told him about it. “I didn’t know until Murali Vijay and Umesh Yadav came on during a break, and told me that this is a world record for you,” said a happy Rahane.
“I was quite surprised, I didn’t know about it. I feel in this team, any player can stand anywhere. Every individual has the ability to field in any position and all are brilliant fielders,” he added.