First things first: Forget Pak series, says Miandad

In his autobiography, The Cutting Edge, Javed Miandad has a chapter dedicated to tours Down Under. ‘Australian Rules Cricket’ he says, an ode to the toughest destination in the cricketing world where the wily batsman emphasises how it was important to get under the Aussie skin to merely survive. Here, he speaks to Our correspondent on why touring Australia can be tough, but also suggests ways in which India can survive the ordeal.

Do you agree that the first day of the first Test is very important in Australia? Does it, in your opinion, set the rhythm for the rest of the series?
It certainly is and that depends on what you do before landing in Australia. During my time, I used to take time off before a tour, give myself a lot of space, spend time at the nets, concentrate on small things I thought were important. All these things play a big role when you actually walk out to play. Of course, what you do on that day affects your confidence and sets the tone for the rest of your stay. But with me that wasn’t the case. I never let my last innings interfere with my next one. India will have to do the same, forget the Test series against Pakistan. Australia will pose altogether a different challenge and India have enough experience to not go there with any pre-conceived notions.

Beating Australia in Australia. Is it the toughest task in international cricket?
Australia are the world champions, so it is a tough task no doubt. But by saying that it is the toughest, you have just made it tougher than it is. India are a good team too, they have a balanced side with some of the world’s best batsmen. They are going there with memories of some superb performances in 2003-04. I personally don’t think it’s as tough as it is being made out to be, especially considering the strength and form of the Indian side at the moment.

Your own experience of touring Australia early on was marked as someone who took on the might of Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Terry Alderman and others. How difficult did it get facing them on those hard, bouncy tracks?
Truly speaking, the wickets back then were really fast. To face the likes of Lillee and Thomson on those wickets, especially at venues like Perth and Brisbane was a challenge. The best one could do against them was to adjust according to any individual’s strengths or weaknesses. You knew the wickets were bouncy. Technically, even if you are the most correct batsman but you couldn’t play the hook shot well or if you weren’t strong on the back foot, you would pay, no doubt. But I realised early on that there was no point thinking about what you couldn’t do, the idea was to try and realise what you actually could. It was about thinking before your opposition could think.

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What about on-field chit-chat? How difficult was that to handle?
I have always believed that cricket is more enjoyable when there’s a bit of chatting. It helped me concentrate more. At the international level, you can’t run away from these things. You are representing your country and you might as well face it. In Australia, it comes to you really hard, and they play their cricket that way. But it’s a challenge to see that off, come forward with a stronger mindset.

There’s a general feeling that touring Australia means fast, bouncy tracks. Facing balls that either come on to the chest or higher. Are these myths or reality?
Firstly, I do not believe that wickets there are as fast and bouncy now as compared to what they used to be during my time. Over the years, Melbourne and Sydney are not the same, they have slowed down so there’s not much difference. Perth, maybe yes. But during our time, these pitches were really hard, and imagine the kind of bowlers—Lillee, Thomson, Alderman. It’s much better now. Not just during my time, even today, I feel, cricketers are always the same, talented, with lot of experience. The point is how you apply that, how you tune in your resources, how you are able to see what there is around you and react to it in the best manner possible.

What is your advice to the Indian batsmen?
Play to your strengths. It’s important to know whether you can play the hook shot or any other for that matter well or not, and stick to what you can do and what you can’t. But it’s more important to ensure that your opposition doesn’t get a whiff of the fact that you can’t play a particular shot well. In short, never let the opposition know your weaknesses. The Aussies are world champions and that’s because they know how to pounce on an opposition’s weakness. That’s where India needs to hold fort. That aside, they are a great batting side and had almost won the series the last time (2003-04). They have enough experience of how to go about it.

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