'It can be learnt fairly easy': Tatenda Taibu reveals how Dravid's advice helped him tackle Anil Kumble
Taibu took to Twitter on Sunday and stated that he received the valuable piece of advice after an India vs Zimbabwe Test match.
Former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu has revealed that how a suggestion from former Indian skipper and ex-India A coach Rahul Dravid helped him improve his game against Indian spin legend Anil Kumble.
Taibu took to Twitter on Sunday and stated that he received the valuable piece of advice after an India vs Zimbabwe Test match. He mentioned that Dravid advised him to play with his bat ahead of the pad.
“When Anil Kumble got me out 3 out of 4 times in my first 2 tests in India. I got advice from Dravid,(after match drinks) to play him like a slow medium pace bowler but WITH bat infront of the pads while still playing late. And mostly importantly watching the ball very closely,” tweeted Taibu.
“It can be learnt fairly easy. It's just getting the timing of looking to come forward on the front foot without committing and WATCHING the ball as opposed to looking at the ball,” the former Zimbabwe captain further added.
Taibu’s revelation came as a reply to former England captain Kevin Pietersen’s tweet, asking to share the copies of an e-mail, he received from Dravid, with current England openers Dom Sibley and Zack Crawley.
ALSO READ | Rahul Dravid gives a classic response to constant praise for grooming youngsters
As the duo continues to struggle against Sri Lanka's spinners, Pietersen feels that Dravid’s advice may help both batters tackle spin.
“Hey @englandcricket, print this and give it to Sibley & Crawley. They can call me to discuss it at length if they want,” Pietersen had tweeted.
During his playing career, there came a patch when Pietersen was struggling against spinners and the batsman opted to reach out to Dravid for some advice. Dravid had then sent Pietersen a lengthy email describing how he can get the better of spinners. Pietersen had also described the whole incident in his book titled ‘KP: The Autobiography’.
ALSO READ | 'It's disrespectful to Indian team if England do not play best XI': Kevin Pietersen
In his letter, Dravid had advised Pietersen to try picking up the bowler's length out of their hands in the nets. He also asked the English batsman to bat without pads against Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar in the nets, in order to help him to reach the length of the ball.