A committed forward defense is just half-way to a drive, and not fishing far away from the body is of absolute essence, according to batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar who spoke to The Indian Express ahead of the England series.
As a brand-new batting line-up seeks to navigate the wicked ways of English conditions, in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Tendulkar zooms in on the prospects and pitfalls of the fledgling batting unit faced with challenges in England, and instructs that playing the ball late, but with assurance will unlock success for the young line-up.
Before we go case by case for a few Indian batsmen, what are the factors in general, that they should watch out for in England?
Sachin Tendulkar: One needs to recognise three elements: the weather, overhead condition and the pitch conditions. Is it a sunny day? Is it windy? Is it a green top? Is the ball stopping and coming or is it coming on to the bat? Then you decide how to bat. In England, focus a lot on front-foot defense against fast bowlers because the tendency is to get your hands away from the body on pitches where there is not much action off the surface. But in England, if your hands start going away from the body, especially with a vertical bat – horizontal bat shots you still can – the bowler is winning that battle. The front foot defense becomes critical in the initial part of the innings, but don’t go out with a defensive mindset. You could defend positively, so run-scoring opportunities should not be missed and when you go in with a defensive mindset, it reflects on your footwork.
Indian batsmen are coming into the series after the IPL. Aiden Markram showed in the WTC final how to adapt. What is needed to achieve it, how would you have done it?
Sachin Tendulkar: My mindset would be to pick the length early because the difference between white ball and the red ball is picking the length. Depending on the three elements I mentioned at the start, you decide which length you are going to attack, which you are going to defend, what length can be driven on-the-rise and what lengths you cannot do that. Once you’ve figured out that length, then it becomes relatively easy, but that clarity needs to be there in your head. I’ll not mess around with a particular length where it makes my hands start going away from my body, then I could be in trouble. So, it’s not just line, but length is the key. Once you have the clarity about lengths you are going to attack or defend, then you have to pick it as early as possible.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s bat-speed especially as he is coming from the IPL can be a bit too frenetic. Chris Woakes and a couple other English Lions bowlers had taken him out recently, as he had flashed hard, bat away from the body.
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Sachin Tendulkar: I didn’t see those particular dismissals, so it won’t be the right thing for me to talk. There are two ways behind it: if you cannot stop your bat-swing and the hands going away from the body. And other is if you have picked the ball, know what the bowler is about to bowl, then you can at times literally want to kill it and can go too hard! Can the bat swing speed be altered to play the ball late? Yes absolutely because, bat speed is in the mind. So, he can do it. It is all about how you think. It’s like footwork; it’s the batter’s mind that is not allowing him to move because he is expecting a bouncer perhaps. If you have the clarity and intent (to play the ball late), the bat speed will be right. Sometimes that error in judgment can happen, because eventually you’re looking at literally an inch-and-half to two inches.
Yashasvi Jaiswal in action. (FILE photo)
Then we have somebody like Shubman Gill, whose weight transfer to the front foot can be slow at times. Many seamers have hit a full-length and nipped back the ball to bowl him or trap him lbw. What should he do?
Sachin Tendulkar: To start with, he has to play in the V, just like our coaches used to tell us. As that would help him to also leave the balls [not just deal with nip-backers] because when focusing on playing in the V, your eyeline and your body set-up is different. So, I would like him initially to stay side on, and move forward if the ball is pitched up.
Shubman Gill of India plays a shot during day three of the first test match between India and Bangladesh held at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, India on the 21st September 2024. (Sportzpics)
Because 80% of the time or even more, most batters are dismissed on that front foot. Back foot, unless it’s an obvious weakness, is less. The key to solving this is to focus a lot on getting on front foot, having that nice stride on the front foot and defending well. Driving is only an extension of that. If he can keep it straight and do that, it will help him.
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When the length is closer to you, then the hands automatically are going to go. But his challenge is not to let the hands go when the length is not there to be driven. That’s why I am emphasising so much on front-foot defense. Because when the ball is there, all these players have an attacking mindset. The hands will go instinctively. To make sure that you’re thinking of defending the ball when the ball is not to be driven will not come naturally to them because of the surfaces and because of the formats being played. Not just Gill, but others too. So there the tendency is for the hands to go away from the body.
Next, Sai Sudharsan, who seems to have a preference for back foot. There was a stat during IPL at one stage about how 64 percent of his forcing shots were off back foot. How do you rate his front-foot play and compactness needed here?
Whatever I saw of Sai Sudharsan, he looked compact when playing front-foot defense. His hands are close to his body, which is good. And as for his shots, he can only react to what the ball is bowled. If a question is asked on geography, he cannot be answering history! So if he has scored more off back foot, then he has reacted to those lengths. If he can continue to be keep his hands close to the body with his vertical bat-shots, he will be fine. Like I said earlier, batting in V and getting forward without hands going away from the body.
Sai Sudharsan of Gujarat Titans with Orange cap at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. (Sportzpics)
In the past, Rishabh Pant has at times stood outside the crease against swing bowling. If he does it here, what steps would you like him to take, be careful about?
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Sachin Tendulkar: Sometimes, when you are standing well outside, you will think that you have made a good leave, but because the distance has increased between you and the stumps, it still has time to come in and hit the stumps. The further you are out of the crease, the more you come towards the off-stump. It helps you judge the ball better.
If Pant is going to stand out a foot-and-a-half, then he needs to stand on middle-and-off guard. But if he is just 8-to-10 inches out, then he can take the middle stump guard. And if it’s less than that, Pant can take middle-and-leg guard.
Rishabh Pant of India plays a shot during day four of the second test match between India and Bangladesh held at the Green Park – Cricket Ground, Kanpur, India on the 30th September 2024. (Sportzpics)
It would also depend on which bowler is at him. Someone like Chris Woakes is going to swing the ball into him, so you have to be careful with your guard that the front foot doesn’t go across. When he is looking for the ball to swing back in, Pant needs to stand on the middle stump or at times, even middle-and-off. That will depend on if he is standing outside the crease – and how far at that.
Odd delivery, Woakes will take it away from Pant and the left-handers [Jaiswal, Sai]. But when he is bowling that away ball, Woakes breaks his wrist – you can see that the fingers are running towards second slip. When he’s taking the ball away from Rishabh Pant, it will nearly always be a scrambled seam most of the times, unless he’s looking to use the shine and going with the seam.
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Karun Nair has been among runs even against England Lions. Curiously, he fell a couple of times to incoming balls, edging behind etc, perhaps surprised by the zip and extent of the nip-backer. What’s your take on him?
Sachin Tendulkar: Karun has played county cricket and done well. So he knows these conditions , and has the experience of having been around for a reasonable amount of time now. He understands when to accelerate, when to slow down a bit and give that due respect to bowlers and the ball. Upfront with the hard seam and that lacquer, the [Duke] ball is going to have more bounce and have that harder impact on the bat.
From 10 over onwards to almost 50-55 overs is where I think the ball has a little extra zip off the surface. And post 55-60 overs to 80th over till the next new ball, is the window to accelerate a bit. Because sometimes you see that the ball is swinging then, but without that zip off the pitch – it gives you time to adjust.
In a nutshell
The absolute Do’s and Don’ts from the Master for India’s batting unit.
On Gill
His challenge is not to let hands go when the length is not there to be driven. Play in the ‘V’, take nice stride on front foot and defend well – driving is just extension of that.
On Pant
If he is standing outside the crease, choose guard carefully. Further he is out of the crease, more he needs to come towards the off-stump.
On Jaiswal
The speed of bat-swing can be altered to play the ball late as bat speed is in the mind.
On Sai Sudarshan
If he can continue to keep his hands close to the body with his vertical bat-shots, he will be fine.
On Karun Nair
He has played county cricket. He understands when to accelerate, when to slow down. When the ball is older, there might be swing but not much zip off the surface; he can attack then.