Ahead of the four-match Test series between England and India, former England wicketkeeper-batsman Matt Prior said that playing Test cricket in India is “about attrition” and when it comes to the wicket-keeping job, the gloveman has to be prepared for a huge physical and mental drain.
Prior was part of England’s historic tour of India when the tourists became the first side to beat Team India at their home after 28-years to record a rare Test series win 2-1.
In that India tour, the right-hander scored 258 runs at 51.60 in his 5 innings while batting at the lower-middle-order. He had also done a brilliant job with the glove, taking six catches and a stumping and a run-out, while keeping wicket for more than 650 overs in the grueling conditions.
Well, England is now back in India to play four Tests, starting February 5, 2021, in Chennai followed by five T20Is and three ODIs, and former wicketkeeper-batsman warned the players to be ready for the tough tour in a “very humid” environment where things will be totally different to what they suppose to be.
As reported by ESPNcricinfo, Prior said: “Playing Test cricket in India is about attrition. From a wicketkeeping perspective, in the first over of the day, with Jimmy Anderson bowling in the high-80s [mph/140kph], I was standing literally four yards back. It's obviously very hot and very humid, so there's a huge physical drain that you have to be prepared for.”
He further added, “And then mentally it's very draining. For players who have grown up in England, you're used to the ball swinging and seaming and leaving on the length and in the channel, but your whole gameplan has to change, whether that's for batsmen, bowlers, wicketkeepers, or even fielders, who have to think more about what they're doing with the ball so that they can get it to reverse.”
Highlighting the challenges for wicket keepers in India, Prior pointed out: “In India, you're so close that it puts a huge amount of pressure on your technique as a wicketkeeper. You're having to stay lower for longer, hold your posture position for longer, and you have to be able to move your quads and your butt, low and fast, under pressure.
That's stood back, but you spend 80% of the time stood up to the stumps so the number of squats you do in a day is through the roof.”
He added, “Your fast-twitch fibers are put under a huge amount of pressure for most of the day. It's physically draining - it's the toughest place to keep wickets, there's no doubt about it. The intensity and the heat is incredible in the subcontinent, particularly for a wicketkeeper. These England guys are in outstanding physical condition. They'll absolutely be ready and prepared for that.”
Meanwhile, the 38-year-old also recalled the moment from the 2012 tour when he fell asleep before taking his kit off after the Nagpur Test in the dressing room.
Prior recalled, “I remember coming in, taking my kit off, and before I knew it, I was asleep. I was just so drained from the whole experience. That's why you do it, and that's what made it such a good victory.
It is so mentally and physically draining to get a result out there. To go there and be successful is a real privilege [so] it was a very proud moment in all of our careers.”
He signed off by saying, “It's certainly right up there. The Ashes get all the publicity and everything that goes with it but India is an equally tough - if not tougher - place to go and win a series.
It might even pip it for me: we won in Australia [in 2010-11] for the first time in 25 years but we won in India for the first time in 28.”
(With ANI Inputs)
