Indian players do virtually everything differently
Central Districts cricket captain Will Young is in India with the New Zealand A team. He provides part II of a tour diary.
The way the Indians play cricket is noticeably different from what we experience in New Zealand.
For starters, the vast majority of their players are small men who are very skilful bowlers.
Their seamers swing the ball and hit the seam a lot while the spinners are incredibly accurate and consistent. They have subtle variations and wait for the pitch to give them assistance.
The fielders expend very little extra energy than they have to. In New Zealand, we run between overs as quick as we can, general chatter and clapping, throw the ball around and little things like that.
They walk between overs, the close in fielders do the talking and the rest are quite quiet.
The outfield is lightning quick and therefore their batsmen time and place the ball incredibly well and get value for their shots.
Their batsman murder width off seamers while against spin they manipulate the field.
The overall pace of the game is slow. There is a max of only 90 overs in the day and we haven’t completed the full day yet. In saying that, though, the battle between bat and ball is intense
They are also show ponies... if they get a wicket or reach a 50 or a century you can expect an outlandish celebration. Also, if there is ever a minor niggle or a batsman gets hit on the finger or box then they are quickly surrounded by support staff and water boys.
I’ve also noticed how there is also plenty of discussion between them. Whether it’s the spinners talking to each other in between overs, the slips,captain and keeper relay a bit of information to the bowlers or the batsmen in the middle talking not only between overs but also between balls.
They speak in in quick Hindi and is always followed by the customary Indian shake and nod of the head.