Kevin Pietersen revealed how he tackled the threat of R Ashwin during their 2012 Test tour of India, as he offered some advice to Ben Stokes and England team for the upcoming Test series.
The England cricket team is all set to play a five-match Test series in India, starting on January 25 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad. Ahead of the much-awaited Test series, Pietersen recalled how he faced the threat of Ashwin in the 2012 Test series.
Pietersen also offered some advice to the England team on playing Indian spinners on the challenging turning pitches in India. Notably, when England last won a Test series 2-1 in India in 2012, Pietersen played a crucial role with his impressive 186 in the second Test in Mumbai.
Well, Team India has Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav in their spin attack for the Test series, and Pietersen revealed that he attacked Ashwin through and over the off side, figuring out the off-spinner’s “doosra” and getting success in dealing his spin threat.
In an interview with former England captain Michael Atherton for The Times, Kevin Pietersen said: “I picked Ashwin’s ‘doosra’. He used to load the ball at the back of his run-up, and I think he still does that now. He never ran up with the ball in his hand as an off spinner and changed it late for the doosra; you can’t do that. He loaded it up early.”
The former England batter added, “I was 100 per cent confident when he was going to bowl it and you’d see how many times I hit him over the off side. I’d see the doosra at the back of his mark and, because he had a stacked leg-side field because the ball was turning so much, I’d think ‘four or six.’”
On how to tackle Jadeja in the Test series, Pietersen said: “I faced Jadeja a lot. It’s about technique. Jadeja is not Murali and he’s not Shane Warne. He’s a left-arm spinner that bowls it one way and occasionally gets the ball to slide on. If your technique is solid enough to play the ball that skids on, you should be fine.”
Sharing his advice for the England batters, the commentator noted: “If your feet are good, and you are not planting your front foot and you are playing down the line of the ball, you should be fine. Just make sure you are not getting bowled or lbw.”
Pietersen signed off by saying, “If you nick it to slip, no problem at all. If you get bowled or lbw that’s a big issue. You have so much time to wait for the ball and then judge length or line and then move.”
(With The Indian Express Inputs)
