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'Miandad stood at silly point...': Gavaskar recalls his classic PAK knock in golden tip for India batters for 4th Test
Ahead of the fourth and final Test match of the contest, in Ahmedabad starting Thursday, India batting legend offered two golden tips to Rohit Sharma and Co. as he recalled his classic knock of 96 against Pakistan.
Senior India batter Dinesh Karthik, in his first assessment after the nine-wicket defeat in Indore last week, said that India's struggle against spin was "glaringly obvious" even through the series against Bangladesh last year but has only been highlighted after the loss in the third Test against Australia. The defeat derailed India's run to the World Test Championship final and raised doubts over the possibility of a win in the series. But ahead of the fourth and final Test match of the contest, in Ahmedabad starting Thursday, India batting legend offered two golden tips to Rohit Sharma and Co. as he recalled his classic knock of 96 against Pakistan.
The 90s kids may have missed the famous knock, but a version of it is available on YouTube. It was Gavaskar's final appearance in Test cricket, against Pakistan on a Bangalore minefield back in 1987 where the opener had scored a valiant 96 off 264 balls.
Recalling that knock during his conversation with Indian Express, Gavaskar, explained the reason behind Indian batters struggling on that raging turner in Indore.
“The top hand guides the bat and the bottom hand decides the speed. So if you want to dead bat then the bottom hand has to have the slightest of holds on the handle. The top hand will bring the bat down as you want it, either straight or across the pads,” Gavaskar said.
Taking a leaf out of his own knock, Gavaskar came forth with a fascinating piece of advice - "crouch like a wicketkeeper".
“Bending a bit helps you as you are closer to the ball, so to speak,” Gavaskar had explained. “Just like a great wicketkeeper who gets up with the bounce, a batsman, if he crouches just a little bit – not too low – where his head is more in line with the delivery angle, he would get to know which one to play. How far to go forward or is it better to go on the backfoot. Standing upright does not give that advantage on turners. They would be able to meet the deviation and bounce better if you crouch a little like a ’keeper.”
“Javed Miandad is standing at silly point ready to take anything. A grip where you hold the bat a little bit higher is a big plus on such pitches. When you drive, you are more likely not to hit it in the air. When you are defending, you slide the bottom hand a little bit down towards the shoulder of the bat – particularly when defending off the back foot, you are making sure the ball doesn’t jump up," he continued.
Reports have so far suggested that India and Australia are unlikely to be welcomed by another rank turner in Ahmedabad where a record crowd is expected for the final match of the 2023 Border-Gavasakr Trophy series.
