Will India find right balance between attack and defence?
At a time when England and Australia’s contrasting styles have become a talking point, it will be interesting to see the approach that India take.
In the contrasting styles of play that England and Australia brought to the first Ashes Test, there’s plenty to debate and discuss. Between England’s flamboyant batting approach — christened Bazball — and Australia’s steadier tempo, which is the more effective method?
Even as the two traditional Test giants dominate the narrative, it will be interesting to see the brand of cricket that India display as they gear up for a fresh World Test Championship campaign with a series in the Caribbean from July 12.
While England’s style is highly appealing, every team will have to focus on its strengths and devise the best way to succeed. “Test cricket is Test cricket — it's how each individual and team adapts. Every country has its own way of playing,” says India batting great Gundappa Viswanath, sharing his views not specific to the Ashes.
Viswanath, who was famous for his stroke-making ability, says the longer format is about playing to the situation. “This is Test cricket, you always go session by session. There is no question of pre-planned thinking. You can’t attack all the time, can you? It all depends on the situation and how it works out, that is what we did in our days,” he says.
Radical decisions
There have been moments in the game’s history when teams have been bold and radical in the way they approach the game. Clive Lloyd’s West Indies immediately come to mind in the way they decided to go with an all-out pace attack and change the dynamics of the game. They dominated like no other in the period from mid-1970s to 1990. Other teams may have looked to emulate them but simply couldn’t because they didn’t have a fast-bowling attack to match.
Cutting to the present, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes are looking to change the dynamics of the game with their demand for fearless batting.
India tried to be fearless in the second innings of the WTC final against Australia, but most of the batters perished while attempting audacious strokes. It resulted in a 209-run loss.
Chasing a target of 444, Cheteshwar Pujara, who thrives in the role of an anchor, was out trying to upper cut a short ball by Pat Cummins. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were both set but paid the price for going after wide deliveries. Rohit Sharma was out leg-before attempting a sweep shot against Nathan Lyon.
Benefits of disciplined approach
So far, discipline in Test cricket has been paramount. Whether it is prudent to shun that approach is the question confronting India's think-tank.
It’s about sticking to your natural game, says Viswanath. “Why do you have five-six batters, everybody is not the same, you choose (the approach) according to the batters, the situation is there you have to adapt to that, that’s what Test cricket is all about,” says Viswanath.
While Joe Root’s reverse scoops and Jonny Bairstow’s dismissive drives provided thorough entertainment, the returns of Usman Khawaja also showed that there’s value in showing restraint and biding time.
India can also study the template of their 2021 series against England in England. In the four Tests that they played before the postponement of the final Test due to Covid-19, India’s 2-1 series lead was mainly built on the show of discipline by openers Rohit and KL Rahul. They respected the good balls and punished the bad ones, akin to Khawaja’s effort at Edgbaston where he spent close to 800 minutes at the crease to score 141 and 65.
In that series, Rahul and Rohit were content with leaving a lot of deliveries alone. It was classical Test batting: playing the ball on its merit and not trying to force the matter.
But having lost two WTC finals, do India need to change their template?
The ability to attack is mostly inherent. Batters like Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill are naturally attacking, obvious from the way they played the 2020-21 series in Australia. India’s consecutive series wins Down Under were built on different styles of players complementing each other. Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, for instance, were the ideal foil for the strokemakers.
Pujara walked away with the Player of the Series award in 2018-19 after scoring 521 runs from seven innings, playing 1258 balls and spending 30 hours at the crease during the series. Vihari was ultra defensive, but he contributed immensely to the 2020-21 series win. His partnership with Ajinkya Rahane in Melbourne was as important in winning the game as his blockathon to save the Sydney Test (23 not out off 161 balls).
As former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said during commentary on the final day of the first Ashes Test “there is more than one way to skin a cat.”
India will have to decide what is their best way.
In the contrasting styles of play that England and Australia brought to the first Ashes Test, there’s plenty to debate and discuss. Between England’s flamboyant batting approach — christened Bazball — and Australia’s steadier tempo, which is the more effective method?
Even as the two traditional Test giants dominate the narrative, it will be interesting to see the brand of cricket that India display as they gear up for a fresh World Test Championship campaign with a series in the Caribbean from July 12.
While England’s style is highly appealing, every team will have to focus on its strengths and devise the best way to succeed. “Test cricket is Test cricket — it's how each individual and team adapts. Every country has its own way of playing,” says India batting great Gundappa Viswanath, sharing his views not specific to the Ashes.
Viswanath, who was famous for his stroke-making ability, says the longer format is about playing to the situation. “This is Test cricket, you always go session by session. There is no question of pre-planned thinking. You can’t attack all the time, can you? It all depends on the situation and how it works out, that is what we did in our days,” he says.
Radical decisions
There have been moments in the game’s history when teams have been bold and radical in the way they approach the game. Clive Lloyd’s West Indies immediately come to mind in the way they decided to go with an all-out pace attack and change the dynamics of the game. They dominated like no other in the period from mid-1970s to 1990. Other teams may have looked to emulate them but simply couldn’t because they didn’t have a fast-bowling attack to match.
Cutting to the present, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes are looking to change the dynamics of the game with their demand for fearless batting.
India tried to be fearless in the second innings of the WTC final against Australia, but most of the batters perished while attempting audacious strokes. It resulted in a 209-run loss.
Chasing a target of 444, Cheteshwar Pujara, who thrives in the role of an anchor, was out trying to upper cut a short ball by Pat Cummins. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were both set but paid the price for going after wide deliveries. Rohit Sharma was out leg-before attempting a sweep shot against Nathan Lyon.
Benefits of disciplined approach
So far, discipline in Test cricket has been paramount. Whether it is prudent to shun that approach is the question confronting India's think-tank.
It’s about sticking to your natural game, says Viswanath. “Why do you have five-six batters, everybody is not the same, you choose (the approach) according to the batters, the situation is there you have to adapt to that, that’s what Test cricket is all about,” says Viswanath.
While Joe Root’s reverse scoops and Jonny Bairstow’s dismissive drives provided thorough entertainment, the returns of Usman Khawaja also showed that there’s value in showing restraint and biding time.
India can also study the template of their 2021 series against England in England. In the four Tests that they played before the postponement of the final Test due to Covid-19, India’s 2-1 series lead was mainly built on the show of discipline by openers Rohit and KL Rahul. They respected the good balls and punished the bad ones, akin to Khawaja’s effort at Edgbaston where he spent close to 800 minutes at the crease to score 141 and 65.
In that series, Rahul and Rohit were content with leaving a lot of deliveries alone. It was classical Test batting: playing the ball on its merit and not trying to force the matter.
But having lost two WTC finals, do India need to change their template?
The ability to attack is mostly inherent. Batters like Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill are naturally attacking, obvious from the way they played the 2020-21 series in Australia. India’s consecutive series wins Down Under were built on different styles of players complementing each other. Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, for instance, were the ideal foil for the strokemakers.
Pujara walked away with the Player of the Series award in 2018-19 after scoring 521 runs from seven innings, playing 1258 balls and spending 30 hours at the crease during the series. Vihari was ultra defensive, but he contributed immensely to the 2020-21 series win. His partnership with Ajinkya Rahane in Melbourne was as important in winning the game as his blockathon to save the Sydney Test (23 not out off 161 balls).
As former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said during commentary on the final day of the first Ashes Test “there is more than one way to skin a cat.”
India will have to decide what is their best way.
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