Admiration oozed, as Ravichandran Ashwin responded to an online poll that pitted former greats against modern-day masters. India-Pakistan cricket was the theme and the match-up was between Ashwin and Javed Miandad. The former gracefully accepted defeat in the hypothetical battle, posting on his Instagram handle: “Miandad will win the battle against me. What a fabulous player. I wish there was a time machine.”
On a nippy January evening, when Miandad was informed about this via a WhatsApp call, the ex-Pakistan captain refused to read too much into the poll result. “Tell Ashwin that the respect is mutual. Social media is a funny place and it revels in throwing up such things. He is also very good; a top-class spinner who has achieved a lot,” Miandad told RevSportz.
The conversation gradually took a more serious turn — the upcoming five-Test series between India and England and what chances the England batters have against Ashwin & Co. on turners. The guiding principles to counter spin on turning tracks were laid down by the Pakistan batting maestro who finished his Test career (124 matches) with 8,832 runs and 23 hundreds. Very few played spin better than him.
“Read him (Ashwin) off his hand and follow the ball closely in the air,” Miandad advised. “If the ball is turning square, then don’t go too much forward. Let it come to you. And use your pads,” he elaborated.
Using the pad as the first line of defence against spin was fashionable during the pre-DRS era. Now, this can be fraught with risks. However, the 66-year-old begged to differ. “You still can do it if you are playing the spinner off the hand, tracking the delivery in the air, picking the length early and reading the line properly. Also, on turning pitches, there’s very little chance of getting out leg-before to someone like Ashwin who doesn’t bowl flat. In fact, on square turners, spinners who bowl flat are more dangerous. Iqbal Qasim was like that in our team. India have (Ravindra) Jadeja.”
During England’s last Test series in India, Axar Patel had weighed heavy on the tourists. Jadeja, of course, will be tough to negotiate. But Ashwin, the craftiest of them all, can put the opposition batsmen in a psychological quandary. He did that to even the greats of the game in favourable conditions.
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Rewind to India’s Test match against Australia in Delhi last year and how the off-spinner worked over Steve Smith in both innings. In the first innings, a floater had accounted for the Australian master. Ashwin pushed it across wider outside off to bring the batsman forward and got the edge. At the second dig, with the bowler’s variations playing on his mind, Smith resorted to an attempted sweep to get out of trouble. He missed it and was out leg-before.
Joe Root offers the visiting England squad’s tenuous link to batting greatness, someone who has been successful in Indian conditions as well. Root’s average in India is 50.10 over 10 Tests, but the majority of his team-mates are not as adept at countering spin on rank turners. The sweep shot is their go-to option and more often than not, they are predetermined to play it. “England batters are compulsive sweepers because they don’t read the ball off the hand. They try to pick it off the wicket. It’s a bit of a desperate approach,” Miandad observed, suggesting the tourists watch Sunil Gavaskar’s videos, how he played spin on turning decks.
Will Bazball work in India? “What is Bazball,” Miandad asked, before adding: “Is it about throwing caution to the wind? If that remains their preferred template, good luck with that. The key to success on turning pitches is to play every ball on merit and try rotating the strike as much as possible. You have to trust your defence.”
Will Brendon McCullum’s side stick to their gung-ho philosophy that supposedly puts entertainment over results? Or, will pragmatism become the order of the day against India’s world-class spin attack? England will be going into the first Test in Hyderabad from January 25 without a warm-up game. This is Bazball’s biggest test yet.
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