Spin demons are all in the mind
One thing you can’t accuse this Indian team of is lack of bravado. Their batting, bowling, fielding and general behavior on the pitch ooze aggression and confidence. It was a bit of a surprise then that the captain Virat Kohli, while trying to pinpoint the reason behind India’s recent travails against spin, suggested there could be a bit of timidness – actually “fear” – lurking behind this tough exterior.
Kohli made this point while highlighting that India, of late, have struggled against the turning ball relatively more in their second innings. “The second innings is when we have not played spin well, as far as I have experienced. In the first innings we have played spin relatively well,” he said after the Mohali Test.
In the second innings of that match, India lost eight wickets to South Africa’s spinners, as compared to seven in the first. Not much difference, you would say. However, the collapse on the third day was particularly alarming. After medium pacer Stiaan van Zyl’s medium pace did Kohli in to make it 161 for three, India lost the next seven wickets to the South African slow bowlers for just 39 runs.
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Their other notable failure against spin in recent times was at Galle in August. Then, as in Mohali, they lost 15 wickets to spin over two innings. In the second essay, however, they were shot out for 112, with all 10 wickets falling to the veteran left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and the young offie Tharindu Kaushal. “I think it’s a mindset thing where some sort of fear creeps in, and you’re not able to make the right decisions. Doesn’t matter if it’s spin or pace. More often than not, it has happened against spin,” said Kohli.
Kohli comes from Delhi. Two of India’s finest players of spin in recent times, Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, are from his state. They were also two of the most fearless cricketers in the country. While the Indian team was taking on South Africa in Mohali, Gambhir was preparing for Delhi’s match against Maharashtra in Kotla. Gambhir took some time off his busy schedule to tune in to the proceedings in Mohali. Watching the home team struggle against the trio of part-timer Dean Elgar, virtually unknown Simon Harmer and leg-spinner Imran Tahir, he arrived at a conclusion which was not dissimilar to Kohli’s. “This Indian team, on a turning track, turns up with a defensive mindset. The batsmen start defending too many deliveries. And the close-in fielders come into play,” Gambhir told The Indian Express.
Few 21st century batsmen have played the turning ball better than the feisty left-hander. Gambhir was perhaps among the last cricketers who lived up to the legend that Indians are great players of spin. In this department, he has been there, done that and seen all. He made his debut in that 2004 Michael Clarke-6/9-match in Mumbai that lasted two days on a Wankhede dust bowl that could have prompted Steinbeck to write another Grapes of Wrath. In 2008, Gambhir made his comeback against Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis in Sri Lanka when they were at the peak of their powers. His last series India was against England where Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar finally demystified that legend.
‘Mind over matter’
He says he made his reputation against spin by never getting sucked into a defensive mindset. “Playing spin is all about your mindset. If your mindset is to survive all the time, you will not survive. Always look to score irrespective of how the surface is, who the bowler is. If you keep thinking about the surface, or reputation of the bowler, it will start affecting you judgment. You will end up being negative. If you are looking to attack, there will be times when these short-leg, silly point fielders will be taken out of equation. A captain will have to adjust his strategy, he will have to spread out the field. But if you only block, these people will always be in the game. So even when I was looking to hang on, the intention at the back of my mind was to look to score runs,” Gambhir said.
His attacking intent meant he would almost compulsively jump out against spinners to nullify the turn and throw them off their line and length. The key here, he says, was not to commit too early. “You’ve got to react late. You need to make your decisions late. You’ve got to stay as still as possible. You can’t commit yourself. The more you get committed, the fewer the options that you have. A lot of kids these days have this front foot press, which is a massive step. They can’t go back and end up relying solely with their hands, which is very dangerous. That’s where the close-in fielders come into play,” he said.
It wasn’t a coincidence that the two Indian players who did well in the Mohali Test, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara, are known to use their feet well. They are also those who have played much of their cricket on turning tracks in Chennai and Rajkot. And there lies another reason, probably the fount of all of India’s recent problems against spin: lack of enough turners in domestic cricket. As a consequence, batsmen get to play few quality spinners in first-class cricket.
“Result-oriented wickets in domestic cricket these days means green wickets. But by doing so, you are taking the spinner out of the game. Where will good spinners come from if you play on either absolutely green wicket or absolutely flat wickets and don’t give them opportunities to play a part in a four day game? And because we don’t play good spinners on turning tracks at home, we struggle when we face even decent ones in international matches.”
