Insight Edge | Aakash Chopra
How intriguing it was to watch Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman spin a web around the English batsmen, as the resilient English willow is reduced to a mere prop during the proceedings. While one marveled at their knack of rolling the arm so proficiently, the technical deficiency of the world's best Test team was indeed bewildering. Most of the English batsmen stayed glued to the crease; their judgment of line and length was found wanting, the most glaring flaw being their inability to read the spin from the hand.
When it comes to playing against the turning ball on low and slow subcontinent pitches, the English batsmen seem to have gone several years backward than forward, at least in terms of their technique. But then why only blame the English when our own men faltered gloriously in the last two overseas tours. We may have shrugged the tag of 'poor tourists' for a few years-2001-08-but it is seems that dreaded time is truly back to haunt us all over again. Continue reading below
<img src="http://static.cricketnext.com/pix/sitepix/05_2011/saeed-ajmal1305_630.jpg">
Interestingly, the story isn't too different when Pakistan tours Australia, South Africa and England, or, even when the Sri Lankans go to foreign lands. Even the mighty Aussies aren't unscathed anymore, they too are faltering regularly away from home. Is that a trend developing? If yes, then would it be fair to say that we are going back a few decades to the time when teams were brilliant at home and whipping boys away? It's worth asking why and how the trend changed for a decade, and more importantly, why are we going backwards in this day and age?
<b>Scheduling</b>
In the last two decades, the focus has shifted from performances at 'home' to 'away from home'. Winning at home was fine but it was the performance overseas that became the yardstick with which a team's strength was judged. During these times, teams went into great detail with regards to preparing for specific tours.
They would travel well in advance and prepare meticulously in the conditions they were going to encounter. They would request to arrange a few pre-tour games allowing them to get used to the conditions. Then, they would rarely play back-to-back Test matches, since losing momentum on an away tour can be detrimental. Hence, there would always be a side-game after a couple of Test matches allowing the team to recuperate physically and the mental scars to heal.
But, given how cricket operates today, such luxury is unaffordable. If a team finds itself in a hole, it's unlikely that they'd find a way out, at least not during the tour.
<b>Specifics over basics</b>
A decline in away performances doesn't mean that there's a sudden decline in players' technique. It's not that Ian Bell can't play spin or Gautam Gambhir doesn't know where his off stump is; it only proves that these players haven't had the time to move from basics to the specifics. All top quality batsmen know how to play a cover drive or a pull but acquiring the knowledge of how and when to execute these basic skills in specific conditions needs a bit more time.
<img src="http://static.cricketnext.com/pix/sitepix/02_2012/ian-bell-ap-630.jpg">
Matthew Hayden was informed a year in advance that he would be touring India and hence should do whatever it takes to be prepared. He started practicing on dustbowls and also, duly visited the MRF pace academy in Chennai to acclimatize. Most Indian batsmen would practice against wet tennis and hard/heavy plastic balls to prepare for Australia. But all this was possible only when there was ample time to prepare.
This groundwork goes relatively unnoticed in the shorter formats of the game because the tracks for a 50-over game are almost identical around the world. Also, there's hardly enough time to expose a technical deficiency when the longest bowling spell is only five or six overs with defensive field placements. But these chinks come to the fore in the longer and the more demanding format, that being the Test match cricket. Unless we find a way to stem the tide, we are likely to see this trend of 'invincible at home' and 'vulnerable outside' become a tradition.
