Handscomb credits India veteran for teaching him to play spin, 'I learnt a lot from him'

Australian batsman Peter Handscomb has heaped praise on Ajinkya Rahane as he credited the India veteran for teaching him to play spin in Asia. Handscomb, who emerged as Australia's second-highest run-scorer in the first innings of the Delhi Test match, said Rahane taught him how to play shots off his back foot through midwicket. Handscomb said he saw Rahane play those shots during the 2016 edition of the IPL.  

'I was like, wow I need someone to teach me that'

"He [Rahane] was playing these shots off his back foot through midwicket which I thought were ridiculous," Handscomb told Sydney Morning Herald.

"I was like, wow I need someone to teach me that. So we spoke about getting his front leg out of the way and being able to manipulate the ball from there. That helps your back foot become a scoring zone, and then if they overpitch, you can hopefully score off the front foot as well. Then all their good balls you just find a way to defend," he said.

"India personally outplayed me in that situation. They gave me my scoring gap, but without the reward, so it was just going to be a single, but tempted me to hit the ball there. And I fell for that and tried to manipulate the ball there when had that been my third ball of the first innings, I would have just tried to defend, because I was still trying to understand the pitch and what was going on," Handscomb said.

"For me, it's just about being stronger and starting again. I probably walked out there thinking 'I'm still on 72 not out, I can just pick up where I left off', and you can't think like that," he added. 

Handscomb, however, couldn't replicate his first-innings form in Australia's final innings, where he got dismissed for a duck by Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up a seven-wicket haul in the same innings and was named the player of the match. India defeated Australia by 6 wickets to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and go 2-0 up in the four-match series. The third Test match is scheduled to begin on March 1. The match will be played in Indore. 

Image: AP