Coach’s mantra: Adapt or perish
PITCH FACTOR India bowling coach Bharat Arun wants team to develop skills rather than become slave of the conditions
PUNE: The current Indian bowling attack has been lethal for a considerable length of time and coach Bharat Arun is happy that his wards have nullified the pitch factor with their amazing skill set and consistency.
Mohammed Shami’s superb second innings effort in the first Test against South Africa in Visakhapatnam on a low and slow track which was supposed to aid spinners has been the talk of the town as much as Ravichandran Ashwin’s seven-wicket haul when conditions were more conducive for batting.
“We don’t ask for the kind of wickets that we get. For us to be the No 1 team in the world, any conditions that come your way, you have to accept it as home conditions,” Arun, who has done a phenomenal job with the bowling unit, said on Tuesday.
The mantra is on developing the skills rather than become a slave of the conditions, said Arun.
“When we go abroad, we hardly look at the wicket. We say that we are going to look at it as home conditions as wicket (track) is same for both teams. We are going to work on our bowling rather than looking at the wicket,” the former India seamer said.
While he is happy that his pacers have performed even on the flattest of tracks, Arun finds it difficult to digest when people criticise subcontinental tracks that offer turn.
“When we get seaming tracks abroad, we get to hear that ‘Oh Indians should learn to play on seaming track’. Seaming tracks are considered to be good tracks, but whereas if there is a track that assists spin, you say ‘oh, how can you spin the ball on day one’. “When the ball seams, you accept it but when the ball turns you don’t accept it,” the paradox baffles Arun.
However, as the top side in world cricket, Arun said conditions are secondary in their endeavour to remain the best in the business.
“Ideally, a normal wear and tear wicket for Test match is fine but if you want to be No 1 team in the world, you can’t be looking at wickets. You got to look at the bowling, adapt your bowling instantaneously for success.”
He then provided Shami’s example of how pure skills and technical knowledge can seal it in challenging conditions.
“In the last game, even though the wicket was abrasive, the ball did not reverse that much, what normally happens on Indian wickets. You then adjust your line and length when the ball is not reversing,” he said.
“The particular wicket that we played the last game tended to keep a bit low and we realised it has to be more stump line and not outside the off-stump. Shami got four out of his five wickets bowled, so the line changed. Now, the quicker a bowler becomes aware of what is happening, chances of success increase,” said Arun.
The freedom given by skipper Virat Kohli to the pacers on how much they want to bowl has also been a key to success, opined Arun.
“Different bowlers are dealt with differently. Bumrah and Shami come in short bursts but Ishant bowls a longer spell— about seven overs. Shami has in fact said in one of his interviews that captain lets them do what they want.
“He (Kohli) gives freedom to choose whether they want to bowl a short spell or a long spell. Bowlers are aware how they could be a lot more effective and they convey this to the captain,” said Arun.
OPINION OF OPPOSITION Ahead of the second Test against India, South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis is hopeful that the pitch will have a more spinning condition than the first Test.
“I know Indian conditions quite well, the turf is a little bit more red here and in terms of that, it is generally more spinning condition. So, expecting the ball to spin more than the first Test,” Faf du Plessis said.
Proteas lost the inaugural Test of their World Test Championships (WTC) against India by 203 runs.
India showcased a spirited performance in the first Test as Rohit Sharma hit centuries in both the innings while spinner Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed eight wickets. Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja bagged six wickets.
“Extremely hot conditions, we spent a lot of time in the field. And the thinking is to be fresh as I said in a previous Test match that there is not enough time to find your answers in the nets now,” du Plessis said.
“The work has been done before the series so it’s about trusting that. Today everyone got the good practice, we took a little bit longer than usual as there were only two nets available. The general feeling in the camp is to be fresh for the five days,” he added.
The 35-year-old skipper wants to win the toss in the second Test so that they can put pressure on India.
“It is obvious in saying that in every Test we would like to start well. Even start a Test ahead of India... that would be nice. We as a team are very resilient and always make a comeback,” du Plessis said.
Talking about the WTC points distribution criteria du Plessis said: “It is complicated. Obviously the shorter the Test series the more points you get. In two Tests you get 120 points and in the five-match series, you have to win 5-0 to get 120 points which is a bit harder. I have noticed that in this thing you always find holes and flaws in the systems, it is never going to be perfect.”