Former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar said he isn’t too hopeful about the Indian batting against the swinging ball unless they've reworked their techniques ahead of the five-match Test series against England, starting on Wednesday (August 4) at Trent Bridge.
Manjrekar further pointed out that the power game is the default setting for the current generation, but Test cricket demands the defensive game and that’s where the Indian cricket team needs to revisit their technique if they want to have a good shot in the upcoming Test series in England.
He also said he was shocked at how Indian batsmen lunged forward to the swing bowlers and went hard at the ball in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand, resulting in their poor technique being completely exposed in Southampton.
Manjrekar wrote in a column for Hindustan Times, “Now, the batting world doesn’t play swing and spin well. It's the inevitable outcome of the changing nature of cricket… No one wants to spend hours trying to possess a water-tight defensive game anymore.”
He further noted, “Those in England now, barring a few, have the same issue. They will start working on their defensive techniques only when the time comes, a time like this, an impending 5-match Test series in foreign conditions.
The defensive game is not always ready, like a default setting, lie it was for earlier batters when Test cricket was the only format. For this generation, the power game is the default setting, which is of little use in such a contest.”
Referring to the WTC Final against New Zealand, the commentator wrote: “I watched every ball of the World Test Championship final, my eyes glued to the screen. To say the least, the technique of Indian batters shocked me. Barring Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant (when the Kiwi bowlers started bowling short to him) all Indian batters have got into this mindset that if you stand outside the crease and lunge forward to a swing bowler, even if he is bowling at 145 kph, all your issues against swing will be resolved. As we saw in that final, they didn't. If at all, that made matters worse.”
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He continued, “This method of lunging forward no matter where the ball is pitched can work for Virat Kohli (although in the WTC final, it didn’t for him too), but won't for those who are not in his league. If India has used all this time to revisit their technique and go back to their earlier, better, skills--especially defence--it gives India a good shot at the series. Otherwise, I am not too hopeful about the Indian batting if the ball swings.”
Manjrekar believes that the Test series “will be a series decided by one exceptional individual performance” and it can be Rishabh Pant for India at No.6 or 7 against England.
He signed off by saying, “I believe this will be a series decided by one exceptional individual performance, that one game-changer in each Test, the one who may clinch the moment and take his team surging forward. For India, that could be Kohli obviously, and then, for me, Rishabh Pant, especially because he has done it twice already in a short Test career. At No 6/7, Pant will be an absolute danger man against England.”
(Hindustan Times inputs)
