Two balls, two pitches: Sachin trick to become tigers abroad
OUT OF THE BOX Master Blaster talks about smart strategies like back-to-back home and away series and leveraging IPL, ODIs to promote less popular sports
Former captain Sachin Tendulkar suggested on Saturday a two-pitch, two-ball recipe for domestic cricket so that players are better prepared for overseas tours where conditions are vastly different from those at home.
The batting great also suggested back-to-back homeand-away series. This will help in a fair assessment of teams as their composition wouldn’t vastly change. The currently touring England side were quite different from the one India, now ranked No1 in Test cricket, played and lost to in their away series in 2014, he added.
Offering a bunch of radical new ideas to improve not just cricket but other sports as well, Tendulkar said breaks during IPL and One-Day matches could be used to hold athletics events to provide a popular platform to less sought-after sports.
The 43-year-old legend’s suggestions carry weight not just because of his stature in the sporting world but also due to his place on the cricket advisory panel of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Tendulkar suggested that the first innings of a match be played on a green top and the second one on a turning track to help cricketers deal with playing conditions alien to India. He cited the faster pitches of Australia and England, and the white Kookaburra ball, which swings more when new, to make his point.
“A good game should see an even contest between bat and ball. Let the opening batsmen negotiate the fast bowlers on green tops. When you go abroad, you will face similar conditions and the preparation will be better,” Tendulkar said at the second and final day of the 14th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.
Indian cricketers have historically performed better at home, earning them the unenviable reputation of being tigers at home and lambs abroad. In India, wickets mostly favour batting and spin bowling and matches are played with SG balls, which swing more when old.
A good game should see an even contest between bat and ball. Let the opening batsmen negotiate the fast bowlers on green tops. It (current Team India) will always be the best, and soon the rest of the world will also rate them the best. SACHIN TENDULKAR, former Indian cricket captain
Since 1989, when Tendulkar made his Test debut, India have played 143 Tests, won 30, lost 55 and drew 58. The overseas record is better in ODIs: Played 271, won 116, lost 136, tied 2 and no result in 17.
Tendulkar’s ideas would be food for thought for the BCCI, which is currently embroiled in a legal battle over reforming the way the game in run in the country.
The BCCI’s technical committee is headed by Tendulkar’s former compatriot and ex-captain Sourav Ganguly.
Explaining why using two balls in a match will help, Tendulkar recounted how spinning great Anil Kumble, even nine years into his international career, struggled with the white Kookaburra ball.
“The white Kookaburra ball doesn’t spin as much as the red ball. Abroad, Indian spinners struggle to come to grips with the white ball. They must know how and where to ball with the Kookaburra overseas,” said Tendulkar.
The cricket legend offered ideas to help popularise other sports as well.
“Let’s have the national 100m (sprint) final during a break in an IPL or ODI match. Let our athletes get a feel of what it is to perform in front of a full house,” he said.
Saying “parantha-loving” India needed to get physically and mentally fitter and refrain from arm-chair criticism, Tendulkar urged cricket fans to acknowledge the effort put in by sportspeople, who largely remain in the shadow of cricket’s superstars.