India outplayed Sri Lanka in all departments of the game in the recently concluded Test series, which finished 3-0 in favour of Virat Kohli's side. It was a series, which reflected India's continued dominance in world cricket, with all their players performing par excellence.
This is the first series under Ravi Shastri as head coach, and the former Team Director must be pleased with what he saw. Ravi is always upfront, talking to the media, but batting coach Sanjay Bangar is always a reserved person and tries to stay away from the limelight.
However, Ajinkya Rahane gave some wonderful insight about the batting coach, the way he offers tips to players in the net session. And more importantly Bangar, at times, goes out of his way when he sees a particular player struggle as well.
Bangar takes them for dinner, but his focus is always to get the best out of the player when representing the national team.
"The best part about Sanjay Bangar is that he keeps things really simple. He always backs us and asks us to go and express ourselves on the field," Rahane said after the third Test.
"The guys who aren't doing well, he takes them out for dinner and makes them feel better. Couple of days off and then I'll think about my one day plan. We have got a very good bunch. For me it is about keeping it simple and doing my best for the team."
These small things may not matter too much if we look at hindsight, but it will definitely build a good rapport within the team, which should help in the long run.
After having played a decent amount of cricket for India, he knows the demands of world cricket, and taking out players for dinner are such things which will keep the cricketers refreshed. And if we look at the recently concluded Test series, it seems to have worked well.
Bangar has been India's batting coach since 2014, and has played an important role in moulding players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul among others into world-class batsmen.
