Fight fire with fire: Rohit seeks aggression to counter scoreboard pressure
Indian captain asks for something new from his middle order -- counterattack if the top order fails against the new ball.
Champions Trophy 2017 final, World Cup 2019 semi-final, Lord’s ODI 2022. Indian cricket fans would remember these dates without much effort for these are the days when the underbelly of India’s batting was cruelly exposed by the swinging ball.
As India searches for answers to a familiar problem, skipper Rohit Sharma, keeping up with the times has advocated a lateral solution – ‘take the game on’.
“It has happened to us on a few occasions and it’s something we want to keep in mind and move forward. We’ve spoken about that. It’s not just happened to us in the 2019 World Cup but in the 2017 Champions trophy and a few other games as well… when we were put under pressure, we were 20/3 or 40/4,” Sharma said in the press conference after India were bowled out for 146 in the second ODI against England.
In the 2017 Champions trophy final, India had a daunting task of chasing down 339, when Mohammed Amir’s famous 3-wicket new-ball spell sucked the life out of India’s innings to leave them reeling at 33/3. At the World Cup semi-final of 2019, it was New Zealand’s Matt Henry and Trent Boult who crashed India’s party, reducing them to 24/4 chasing 222. On Thursday, England’s Reece Topley and David Willey sent India’s top order packing at 31/4 in pursuit of 247.
A common thread in these three matches was that all of them were played in England where the new ball swings and seams. On each of those occasions, one wicket was that of Sharma himself, leg before. Twice to a ball curling in and once when it straightened after pitching. All the opposing bowling units had quality left-arm pacers who exploited the conditions and working on technical frailties with modern-day scheduling can only be addressed during net sessions.
But when the top order malfunctions, India no longer wants its middle order to go into a shell; rather the attempt has to be to fight fire with fire.
“I want guys to change the mindset a little bit,” said Rohit. “I know the target is small 230/240. But is there another way you can chase a target like that? I think there is something different you can do as a batting unit. Unless you try, you will never know. I want guys to take the game on and find something different about their own game rather than (only) thinking about the team’s goal. If they get the team out of that situation, imagine the confidence they are going to get from that.”
The philosophy Sharma is advocating is fraught with risk in the ODI format. But it also has its roots in the repeated failures against the moving ball. On batting featherbeds, they rarely encounter such situations.
“We’ve spoken about it but it depends upon each individual at that moment. That’s where the role of management comes in, to show them that what they are trying to do is absolutely right,” Rohit added.
At the Champions Trophy, India’s counter-attack was launched by Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja for the 7th wicket, by which time it was too late. India wants their middle-order to try taking the bowlers on earlier, even when the scoreboard isn’t looking pretty against the new ball.
“The game is evolving. Batsmanship is evolving and as a team, you need to evolve as well,” he said. “We want to take the team in a certain direction and while doing that you will have some failures as well. You will get to learn as individuals and a team where you got stuck. We want to encourage that kind of thought where people are trying different things and it’s completely accepted (if you fail). The team is trying to do that and it’s critical for individuals to buy into that.”
Interestingly, it’s not a tactic MS Dhoni adapted and won India many a game. However, he too came up short in the 2019 World Cup semi-final. His 7th wicket rare guard partnership with Jadeja brought India close but couldn’t help them reach the finish line.
