Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has said that England batsmen need to tackle Indian spinners in a better way if they want to change their fortunes in the limited-overs version.
England, who outplayed India 3-1 in the five-match Test series, trail the visitors 0-2 after three outings and Ganguly opines that the Alastair Cook-led side should change its mental approach.
“There are two things I think England are getting wrong when it comes to their one-day batting. They’re thinking getting to 300 is a problem and is such a hard thing to do.
But why? Their mental approach has to change. Why is it that an India team can just come over here and get 300,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by ‘The Mirror’.
“The second thing is England’s approach to spin. As soon as they see a pitch where spin might play a part, they struggle and they tell themselves they will struggle,” he added.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Ganguly, who led India to the famous 2002 Natwest final win as the Men in Blue chased down 326 runs, said that Cook and company should attack the Indian spinners if they intend to score 300 plus runs.
“They should take the game to the spinners and force them to change what they are doing. Come down the pitch, but do it as late as possible. Don’t just give it away, which is what I think Alastair Cook did. He had three dot balls and then decided he was coming no matter what and he gave it away.
“You have to find a way to play spin better than this.
You might not score off a few balls but you can make those up later in your innings if you don’t give it away,” he added.
Former England opener Geoffery Boycott, who christened Ganguly as ‘Prince of Kolkata’, also said that Cook and company have a ‘spin problem’ in ODIs.
“Now Swann (Graeme) has retired and it seems (Monty) Panesar has lost his focus. We cannot play spinners and we do not have one to bowl at the opposition,” Boycott wrote in his column in The Telegraph .
