Renshaw laughing off the verbal

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Cricket365
March 5, 2017

Young Australia opener Matthew Renshaw tries not to get involved in too much of the verbal jousting that has been going on during the Tests against India.

The young man had Virat Kohli chirping in his ear from the moment he made his way out into the middle but the left-hander did his best to shrug it off and enjoy the moment.

Speaking after play on a day when he whacked 60 on a very tough surface Renshaw said: “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.

“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.”

Kohli and Australian skipper Steve Smith got into it after Renshaw stood his ground when Ravi Ashwin tried to get across to field a drive from the Baggy Green captain.

Renshaw said it was all in good spirits though adding: “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.”

The 20-year-old feels the pitch in Bangalore may be more difficult to bat on than the one they played on in Pune.

He went on: “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. But it’s probably a bit harder against the quicks because it’s not bouncing as much or some are going up.

“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.”