IMAGINE a one day Indian team with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman being bounced out by the opposition. Not possible would be your immediate reaction. They have been known to fail collectively in the face of quick bowling in Test matches, the most recent and notable instance was when Dale Steyn and Co skittled them out in India. But in a Test match, I can’t see too many sides hustling them with a barrage of short pitched bowling. Nor do I see these worthies jumping around the place, hopping around, unable to pick the line of the ball. When West Indian fast bowlers Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor employed this tactic in the T20 World Cup, old wounds were reopened. But that was also because the big guns were away. In the West Indies one saw Ravindra Jadeja initial movement while playing fast bowling of moving towards square leg. Cricket under the microscope is how I will describe televised cricket. When set in his stance, Jadeja’s first movement was of his left leg retreating while watching the bowler run in. I haven’t seen that in an Indian cricketer in recent memory.
When Yusuf Pathan was at sixes and sevens against the bouncing ball, his first movement was to take his eyes of the ball and try and fend the ball with his bat or gloves. That is how he was caught out, looking maladroit and ungainly. The key is to drop your hands or sway away from the firing line. These are basic pre-requisites in modern day cricketers. Suresh Raina tried to attack in England without judging the length and speed or direction of the ball. He ended up top edging while trying to short arm pull the ball. Rohit Sharma too tried to attack and he found himself caught in the deep. So, why is the new crop of batsmen so nervous against short pitched bowling. This can spell the ruin of Indian cricket in the short term for word travels quickly on the circuit.
Sunny Gavaskar, probably the greatest batsman against genuine quick bowling India has ever produced along with Jimmy Amarnath, Gundappa Vishwanath, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman has written something which explains this new phenomenon. Flat wicket bullies normally have a tendency to play on the front foot because they are sure of the length and speed of the ball. Since this is a natural tendency in limited over cricket on slower wickets, the moment the length alters and you are forced to play off the back foot, you are susceptible. And that is where the new crop of Indian batsmen has been caught out. Drivable length balls off the front foot are easy to play, but the music starts playing when the quicks alter the length and make you hop around on the back foot. Gavaskar thinks that this shortcoming will be overcome quickly.
My question is do these boys have the wherewithal, expertise and technical aptitude to play the short rising ball directed at the rib cage and face. Bowlers are getting quicker. Ninety miles is now the norm, not the exception. On July 10, the master Gavaskar completes 60 years. There was no better technician in cricket in the years that he played, not merely in India but across the world. Viv Richards was considered a destroyer of bowling, savage and arrogant, while Greg Chappell was more classical, tall and upright. But neither of them played genuinely fast bowling as well for as many years as Gavaskar. Firstly because Richards was a West Indian so he didn’t have to contend with his fellow quicks while Chappell did play the West Indians well. Other than Gavaskar, I reckon Graham Gooch and Allan Lamb were two batters who had exemplary records against West Indies. When Gavaskar plundered a second string Aussie attack, he scored three hundreds in the second innings; he still had to deal with Jeff Thomson. When he scored against a newbie West Indian side again during the Kerry Packer induced crisis, again he had to battle with a young fast bowler named Malcolm Marshall. Gavaskar genius was that he was consistent against all comers, even as he was a defensive batsman. Isn’t it amazing that Sachin Tendulkar in a glittering 20 year career has never managed to aggregate 500 runs or more in a Test series? The closest he has ever come was during the last tour to Australia.
Gavaskar’s duels with the West Indians and Imran Khan or Willis and Botham have assumed legendary proportions. Twenty two years after he retired from the game after playing one of his greatest knocks on a Bangalore Bunsen against Pakistan, one should salute the man for his ability to play fast bowling. It was men like Gavaskar, Vishy and Jimmy Amarnath who took the fear factor out of Indian cricket. They showed the world that Indians could play fast bowling with complete technical perfectitude. But now that this debate has been reopened, men like Tendulkar and Dravid need to re-assert themselves one last time at the fag end of their careers to show that Indians are not afraid. Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman continued the fine art of batsmanship practiced by Sunny, Vishy and Jimmy. They ensured that this whisper campaign was not heard in locker rooms again. Sehwag created a different kind of fear factor, one where the bowlers begged for mercy from his rasping blade.
Rahul Dravid surprisingly is back as one of the probables for the Champions Trophy, as is Tendulkar. I am sure the selectors are thinking; let us send them out to battle one last time. They are well rested to play a prestigious one day cricket tournament. This is also a message to opposing bowlers who have tried to bounce out Indian batsmen successfully. Dravid will hook you in front of square, Tendulkar will play his own brand of upper cuts while Viru will just wade into you. They will brook no nonsense and they will attack you. You cannot bounce out Laxman; he will pirouette on his twinkle toes and slap you over mid wicket. These are quality players who carried on the relay which began with Sunny, Vishy and Jimmy.
One last time to joust with the enemy and to send word that we are not afraid. But what of Raina, Sharma, Yusuf, Jadeja and Co. Even Gambhir was out a couple of times, hooking too early, misreading the length. They need to sit down with Dravid and Tendulkar and learn the art of batting against the rising ball. It is clear that Dravid will be picked for the Champions Trophy, he returns after October 2007 when he last played a one day game against Australia. Watch out tyros, there are no free lunches anywhere, more so on the cricket field.
