If pitches in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season are any indication, the next breed of Indian batsmen is likely to struggle on surfaces with pace and bounce. The country continues to produce largely front-footed batsmen brought up on placid tracks.
Should the BCCI and the respective State associations make it mandatory for the youngsters — at different age levels — to play on proper matting tracks that provide bounce to the bowlers and enables the batsmen to strengthen their back-foot play.
Saad bin Jung, the grandson of Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, who played for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy from the late 70s to the mid-80s, shared his thoughts on the subject with The Hindu .
The 51-year-old, Saad, among the finest cricketing minds in the country, said, “Even when India had matting wickets, we were mainly producing front-footed players but they knew how to play off the back-foot and had to play the square cut and the pull.
“There were few wickets fast or few bowlers quick enough to push you back, especially at the lower levels of the game.”
Saad added, “Instinct becomes technique and this front-footed play soon becomes a nasty habit. This is further enhanced with the inception of helmets.
“The batsmen are now completely unafraid to go forward and actually grow up playing off the front foot simply because there is nothing to push them back.”
Technique, unless properly guided, was like water flowing along the easiest course before it got dammed, he said. And Saad stressed balancing hard and bouncy tracks with good matting surfaces that would push the batsmen back. “Dead matting tracks would suit no one,” he said.
He felt the horizontal bat shot was a high-risk one that needed to be practised a lot more than a normal stroke in the ‘V.'
“When you didn't have a helmet, the most played horizontal bat shot was the square cut against a truly quick bowler, after getting your eye in. This was because there was no risk of injury.”
Difference
Highlighting the difference between the pre-helmet and the contemporary helmet era, he said, “There was a method to madness in the pre-helmet days unlike now where inept and improperly taught batsmen, believing they own the wicket, are climbing the ladder faster than they can absorb the changing needs of the game.”
Saad said matting tracks with bounce and speed would benefit the youngster but only if he is made to play on such tracks without a helmet. And he said the aspirants should start imbibing the right methods by the time they are 12 years of age.
He said, “Great care needs to be taken when the cricketer is around 12 so that he doesn't become a bottom handed dominated player. If not, unless he is a Tendulkar or a Bradman, he lands up in deeper trouble than he can handle.”
Saad said youngsters should attempt to emulate Rahul Dravid's methods. “One should study how Rahul Dravid's cricket was formed. He is so good, both, off the back and the front foot and uses the perfect mix of the two hands to play superb cricket. I take the example of Rahul because he is easier to duplicate — for the bottom handed Sachin, a genius, is not a player whom one can or should copy.”
The erudite Saad said the BCCI should strive to bring back the era of wickets with character.
“Sadly every time we produce a wicket with character, the Test ends in three days and the venue runs the risk of being banned. We have lost home advantage because of this ridiculousness. And once the board produces wickets with character, both vicious turners and quick tracks, then we will have many batsmen coming through with overall well-grounded techniques,” he concluded.
