Sekhar on Movers

‘‘Australia tried the same thing against India when India toured there and it didn’t work. Indian batsmen are now happier lea...

Written by Faisal Shariff

New Delhi | February 25, 2005 12:00 AM IST

2 min read

Tirumalai Ananthan Sekhar, chief coach at the MRF Pace Foundation, believes that Pakistan’s proposed strategy of frustrating the Indian batsmen might not work in the forthcoming series. The former Indian pace bowler said that the Indian batsmen have enormous reserves of patience and that the Pak plan — as suggested by Waqar Younis — of drying up the runs will fall flat.

‘‘Australia tried the same thing against India when India toured there and it didn’t work. Indian batsmen are now happier leaving balls outside off unlike before,” the former selector told The Indian Express. He added that Pakistan’s best chance would be to get the Indian batsmen to play as many balls as possible.

Former Aussie bowler Bruce Reid, who was bowling coach for India for the Australia tour and the ICC Champions Trophy, seconds that thought and even rates the current Indian bowling attack ahead of the Pakistani attack.

‘‘The Pakistan bowling has no one except leggie Danesh Kaneria. Without Shoaib Akhtar, without consistency and without pace they will definitely struggle,’’ he told The Indian Express in a telephonic conversation.

He emphasized the Indian bowlers’ ability to swing the ball that gives them the edge. Reid however emphasized that most international batsmen cope with swing and adjust accordingly but it is late swing that will worry even the best. ‘‘And Irfan Pathan, L Balaji and Zaheer Khan are good exponents of late swing,’’ he added.

	SEKHAR’S SUGGESTION

			Force them to play • The Pakistan batsmen will struggle coping with the ball that nips back into them. Move the ball in the air • If you have observed the Pakistan batsmen in Australia, they were mostly dismissed caught behind. If the Indian bowlers focus on that they will do well. Even Inzamam has a habit of chasing balls outside the off-stump. Avoid pitching short • With lack of pace in the wicket and bowlers, it is best to just concentrate on bowling on a line around off-stump. Bowlers should avoid the short ball because it will sit up to be hit.

Rubbishing the stress on bowling length on Indian wickets, Sekhar said that good length was essentially one that puts the batsmen in two minds. It does not depend on the nature of the wicket but on the caliber of the batsman and the conditions.

‘‘Laxman can hit good length balls on either side of the wicket, so what do you do with length?’’ he asks. The focus, he deems, should be on getting the Indians to play shots. Sekhar also believes that the Pakistan batsmen will struggle against India’s left-arm pace bowlers. ‘‘Though spin will play a huge part in the series, the Pakistan batsmen will struggle coping with the ball that nips back into them,” Sekhar said.

He said that Yousuf Youhana would find it hard to keep Irfan Pathan out since he plays the ball inside out and any batsman who does that will give a clear chance to the left-arm bowlers to get him. The reason for that being that since Wasim Akram and up until Mohammad Khalil, the Pakistanis have not played too much of left-arm pace in the nets.

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Reid also points out that whenever possible Balaji should be included in the eleven because of the variety he will bring as the right-arm pacer and also because he bowls the inswinger and the outswinger with the same action.

‘‘Just ask the Australian batsmen who said they had trouble picking his deliveries,’’ said the former Aussie bowler who is keen to coach the Indian team again.

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