Key to dominating spin bowling is in the legs
It was a pleasure to watch India bat in the first Test — it was good to see spin bowling played so well. I especially enjoyed Cheteshwar Pujara’s batting. I love the way he quickly gets back to either play through the covers or a pull to the mid-wicket boundary.
Many batsmen limit themselves by “closing off ” when they play the pull but Pujara opens up (thrusting his left leg towards the square-leg umpire) and creates a wider arc to place the ball. He was well supported by Murali Vijay, a dangerous opponent because he handles the new ball competently and can extend his innings by playing spin bowling well. This pair and Virat Kohli give India a trifecta of batsmen who can dictate terms to opposition spinners. As well as watching the Test on television I was also in the process of reading Gideon Haigh’s excellent new book: “Stroke of Genius”.
It’s a book about Victor Trumper’s batting artistry captured in one photograph, titled “Jumping Out”. In his playing days Trumper extolled the virtue of footwork with this simple philosophy; “Spoil a bowler’s length,” he remarked, “and you’ve got him.” This statement accords with the best use of the feet against a top-class leg spinner that I’ve witnessed. Following VVS Laxman’s magnificent 2000-01 series against Australia in general and Shane Warne in particular, I asked the leg-spinner how he thought he bowled. “I didn’t think I bowled badly,” replied Warne.
“You didn’t,” I answered. “When a batsman comes out three metres and drives you wide of midon and then when you go higher and shorter to tempt him with the next delivery, he’s quickly onto the back-foot and pulls through midwicket, that’s not bad bowling.” In the words of Trumper, Laxman’s footwork, ensured “he’d got him (Warne).”
It’s this decisive footwork that allows a batsman to dictate the field placings. Both Pujara and Vijay did this exquisitely by employing the late cut and either the square-cut or the forcing shot off the back-foot. By playing these shots they forced the fielding captain to place a man behind, as well as just in front of point. When a captain has to expend two men patrolling a limited area, it leaves some inviting gaps elsewhere.
Good footwork is not only decisive, it’s also physically demanding if you play a long innings. Pujara, like my teammate Doug Walters — the best player of off-spin bowling I’ve seen — pushes back with intent.
Too many batsmen are easily tempted into lazy footwork. They either prop forward one pace or just swivel on the back-foot rather than advancing to attack the delivery or quickly retreating to allow more time to place the shot.
Some right-hand batsmen also limit themselves by moving outside off-stump to thwart off-spinners. This theory is flawed because it’s based on survival rather than developing a method that creates more scoring opportunities. It also opens up possibilities of an ambush to smart bowlers like R Ashwin. He achieved such a dismissal when he out-thought Ish Sodhi to bowl him behind his pads.
The more proficient a spin bowler, the more attacking should a batsman’s thought process be. This doesn’t mean coming up with ways to belt him but rather, how to score regularly and frustrate the spinner. This is a demanding process both physically and mentally and isn’t achieved by lazy or leaden footwork.
For some time India has been producing batsmen who rely on tested methods to score at every opportunity. Whatever development methods India are employing for their young batsmen, the rest of the cricket world should start taking notice.