Yet Sunil Narine continues to beat technology and stay ahead of most analyses. Even though he has been scanned time and again, he manages to get the better of batsmen and fascinate spectators.

He’s not the first mystery spinner; there have been quite a few who batsmen couldn’t decipher immediately, if at all. Yet there’s something about this lad from the West Indies, with a peculiar hairdo and an equally peculiar action that has enthralled aficionados worldwide.

In his debut IPL season, last year, Narine took 24 wickets and helped Kolkata Knight Riders win the trophy for the first time. But it isn’t just his ability to take wickets that makes everyone sit up and take note, it’s the way he spins around hapless batsmen.

One particular over that he bowled to his fellow West Indian, Andre Russell, in the opening match of this season’s IPL comes to mind, because it looked like Russell had no idea which way the ball would turn after pitching. Each time almost, he played down one way when the ball was heading the other.

It’s not too hard to decipher a doosra or a carrom ball from an offspinner while watching on TV, when the camera gives us the view from the back, but Narine’s variations are hard to pick even for viewers sitting at home. So what chance did Russell have?

By bowling even his offspinners with a scrambled seam, Narine manages to keep the batsman guessing which one will head the other way. And since he bowls both his variations from the front of the hand (the doosra is usually bowled from the back of the hand), you have to look very closely at which way his fingers are turning at the point of release – not an easy job.

But it isn’t just the variations or his ability to disguise them that make Narine a difficult bowler to bat against in T20. There are many bowlers who have more variations up their sleeve. All good legspinners have three deliveries (legspin, googly and a flipper), and most offspinners these days also possess more than a couple variations (offspin, doosra and a carrom ball), but it isn’t about the quantity, it’s about the quality of execution. Having different types of deliveries won’t mean much unless you know when to use them.

In fact, Narine has only two variations in his bag – a regular offspinner and the one that goes away after pitching. But unlike other spinners, he is a master when it comes to using his subtle variations, and he rarely overdoes them.

In his first over in this year’s IPL, he did not bowl a single away-going delivery. He realised that there was some turn and bounce on the Eden Gardens pitch, so he was better off bowling offbreaks. In fact, in the entire game, he didn’t bowl a single away-going delivery to the well-set Mahela Jayawardene, having arranged a leg-side field for him. If Jayawardene had picked the variation, Narine would have run the risk of leaking runs. But against Russell, Narine strengthened the off-side field, with a slip as an attacking option, and bowled the other one repeatedly. His ability to judge the demands of the situation and then move from being smart and defensive to brave and aggressive sets him apart.

In addition to his game sense and variety, Narine’s pace and his effective stock ball make it very tough to score off him. He bowls really flat and slightly quicker but without compromising on turn off the surface. If there’s something in the pitch for the spinners, he really rips them across the right-handers and away from the left-handers.

The delivery that got David Warner in the first match was an example of his ability to turn the ball with bounce at reasonably high speed. His pace and flat trajectory take away the batsman’s crucial attacking strategy – stepping down the track to play the lofted shot. There aren’t many who can hit the long ball without coming out of the crease.

If you can’t come down the track, you look to either slog-sweep towards cow corner or go deep into the crease to pull the slightly shorter deliveries. Narine’s extra turn and bounce on pitches like the one at the Eden Gardens make both these shots tough to execute. The turn ensures the ball misses the bat’s sweet spot. If that fails, the bounce ensures the ball’s impact on the bat is higher than the batsman is comfortable with. Either way the batsman rarely gets the intended height or distance.

If batsmen look for five or six runs off a Narine over instead of going after him, he might not turn out to be such a prolific wicket-taker. Unfortunately for all IPL teams, Knight Riders’ captain, Gautam Gambhir, brings Narine on either in the Powerplay or during the death overs. That forces batsmen to go after Narine and increases his chances of picking up wickets. I won’t be surprised if he finishes as one of the top wicket-takers this season as well.

Gayle made the Pune Warriors bowlers look schoolboyish, and an international stadium like a backyard (though his cause was helped quite a bit by a bit of a pedestrian performance by the opposition).

Gayle’s aura is such that most teams now opt for a radically different approach to assess what total would be par for course when playing Royal Challengers Bangalore. The consensus – and not without reason – is that the aim should be to post a total and hope Gayle gets out cheaply, because when he fires, no total is insurmountable, no bowler threatening enough, no ground big enough.

Once set, Gayle hits sixes at will, and does so with percentage cricket shots at that. He isn’t one to look for a lap shot or a reverse sweep; he prefers to hit in the V, and so connects more often than not. And his power does the rest, taking the ball over the ropes.

In spite of the heroics he produces regularly, Gayle has his weak spots, like the rest of us. While he possesses an air of invincibility, he is liable to bungling occasionally. Here are some points for teams to consider when putting down plans for Gayle.

Attack first up
As a T20 freelancer, Gayle is acutely aware of the importance of being consistent in this volatile format. He needed to find a template that allowed him to optimise his strengths and also score consistently. So he has looked to resist the temptation to try to exploit the field restrictions at the start, and has looked to give the first few balls or overs to the bowlers instead. By playing a few balls out quietly, he gives himself more chances to succeed.

This offers the opposition a small window to dismiss him in, by bowling attacking lines and lengths, with fielders in catching positions. It makes sense at this point to shelve the typical T20 lines and lengths and adopt a more conventional Test match bowling strategy. If there’s some swing on offer and the bowler has the ability to move it away from the left-hander, he must pitch the ball fuller and pitch outside the off stump, inviting him to drive through the off. While Gayle plays most shots in the book, he isn’t the best driver of the cricket ball when it is new and moving. Though he doesn’t mind leaving a few deliveries alone, there’s a chance that he might fall for one that’s too tempting to resist.

However, right-arm bowlers angling the ball across him with the swing don’t quite do it, for Gayle, like most left-handers, gauges the angle quickly and leaves them alone. If a left-arm quick is capable of taking the ball away at pace, he has a reasonable chance of dislodging Gayle.

Cramp him for room
Chris Morris and Dirk Nannes discovered another way of getting the better of Gayle in Royal Challengers’match against Chennai Super Kings. Instead of bowling length on the fourth-stump line, they bowled quick and into his body. It wasn’t a barrage of bouncers but more just cramping him for room, with most balls finishing at thigh height.

Both bowlers peppered him so much with that line that they got Gayle to abandon his template. He played a couple of uncharacteristic shots, trying to put the bowlers off their game, seemingly not realising that they were trying to do the same to him. Eventually Morris succeeded, getting Gayle caught as he attempted a wild heave to a wide delivery – a ball he would have left alone on other occasions.

Morris and Nannes made a concerted and relentless effort to bring Gayle out of his comfort zone and they succeeded. The contest may have lasted only ten balls, but it was worth watching for the drama.

Spin it away
This is a bit of a hit-or-miss strategy to counter Gayle. If it was guaranteed to work, every team would play an offspinner against him. While even part-time offspinners have managed to dismiss him a couple of times, it is the quality ones who have earned respect consistently from the big Jamaican.

R Ashwin got him a couple of times in last year’s IPL by inducing a false stroke, and since then, Gayle has changed his approach against offspinners: instead of going after them, he prefers to milk them for singles and attack the bowler at the other end.

“To make a batsman play an attacking shot is the biggest challenge a spinner faces,” Stuart MacGill said recently on his show The Cricket Club. While T20 cricket does that bit for a spinner by default, for everyone is trying to hit the spinners out of the ground, it’s not a given with Gayle, who is likely to play safe early on. So even if it’s worth gambling with a spinner early on, the quality of the bowler makes all the difference – you need one who can make Gayle play an attacking shot and induce a mistake.

It would be worth watching someone get the better of him. The small battles between batsman and bowler are what make the big contest fascinating. While most bowling plans go out of the window once Gayle gets going, it is better to plan and fail than to not plan at all.

Quite similar is the case with regards to Pakistan. On the one hand, we claim to be snapping all sporting ties with Pakistan (we sent their hockey players back, made their Women’s team feel unwelcomed by not allowing them to play in Mumbai and none of their players are allowed in the IPL), while we conveniently allow their coaches, commentators and other artists to ply their craft. If a Pakistani national can describe the action played out on our screens, and coach an IPL team, share his knowledge of the craft with Indian players, why can’t a Pakistani player come and play too? Aren’t we setting different rules for different people? Either there has to be a blanket ban or everyone should be allowed. It is unfortunate, that the biggest democracy in the world is turning out to be a hypocritical nation by making sports a soft target. We must evolve from being a sport loving nation, to one who abides by the spirit of sportsmanship too.

From a batsman’s point of view, there are phases in an innings when a batsman gets carried away, due to early nerves or just momentum, and hits everything that’s bowled at him. During such phases, one invariably finds himself in the right positions, bowlers tend to bowl just where you want them to bowl, you time everything to perfection and find gaps instead of fielders.

That’s exactly how Dhawan started out too. Most such innings though, settle down once you start staring at personal milestones. Quite miraculously, Dhawan didn’t slow down even after settling down. He continued in the same vein till the very last ball he played on his very first outing. From a technical vantage point, even though the track was flat and the Aussie bowling attack was far from threatening, Dhawan made for incredible viewing.

While his innings and with it the start to his Test career has turned out special, it’ll be prudent to avoid drawing parallels with the man he’s replaced, Sehwag. As it often happens with transition and big names retiring, there is an inevitable comparison between the old and the new. Now, if Dhawan plays aggressively, he’s the next Sehwag. If Pujara plays correctly, he’s the next Dravid. As much as we, humans, like to look for reference points, it’s not wise to draw conclusions or even base our assumptions on a very small sample size. The only reference point that’s relevant and tangible is the batting positions Dhawan and Pujara have acquired, but that’s where the similarity ends.

Sehwag was someone who rewrote the coaching manuals in Test cricket and Dravid scored over 10, 000 runs in two formats over 15 years. Once we start judging or comparing the younger generation based on these lofty standards, we end up putting undue pressure on the guys who’re barely cutting their teeth in International cricket. Playing at the highest level puts enormous pressure on an individual anyway. He can surely do without the added burden of these extraordinary expectations.

Moreover, is it even fair to keep looking for clones? Wouldn’t it be nice if Shikhar carves his own niche as someone who not only plays aggressive cricket when he’s sailing with the tide but also has another gear to fall back on when the going gets tough. Wouldn’t it be better for Indian cricket if Pujara surpasses Dravid’s achievements and becomes Cheteshwar Pujara and not the next ‘Wall’?

While cricket is a game of repetitions, for the same thing is done over and over again by different individuals, the beauty of cricket lies in the distinctiveness of the same action, for no two shots or deliveries are alike, even if they are executed by the same player. When no two cover-drives played by Dravid himself were identical, it’s unfair to expect Pujara to play like Dravid.

Let’s celebrate the individuality of every cricketer and allow them to be themselves instead of figuring out similarities and working up clones.

Should failing to complete a task assigned by the coach/team management meant to improve the team’s flagging fortunes, provoke such suspension? For the record, the players weren’t asked to make a detailed power point presentation or write an essay on the subject. Three bullet points would’ve sufficed, to be written down on a piece of paper, sent through an SMS or emailed. The question though is not about the simplicity or the complexity of the assignment, but about player participation in a team task.

Apparently, this wasn’t the first time that such a thing happened. Skipper Michael Clarke points out that this was actually the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Team standards, work ethics and culture had been abused in the past too. Serial offence demands severity, lest it becomes a habit.

Going by their current predicament, Australia is 0-2 down, while a complete whitewash also seems to be on the cards. At a time when they needed to make the most their resources, they’ve thinned them down to bare minimum. Aussies now have only 13 members to choose their XI from. Clearly, winning or losing isn’t as important to the Australian board as is Team culture.

Questioning the sense behind the judgment, former cricketers believe that players should be critiqued only on the basis of their on-field performances and not on their ability to think about ways to improve the Team. Playing professional ‘team’ sport though, at the highest level, in fact at all levels, isn’t just about turning up for the game, scoring runs or taking wickets. There’s a lot of effort that goes into converting a bunch of talented individuals into a cohesive unit, which works together towards the same goal. There are times when one doesn’t agree with the coach or the captain, but as a part of a Team, you got to adhere to their thought process. For instance, if the team’s fielding or fitness standards on the field have left a lot to be desired, the trainer or the coach would expect the entire team to put in the extra hours in practice sessions. Now, you may be the fittest or the best fielder in the side and hence don’t feel the need of putting those extra hours, but you won’t be exempted from this regimen. Team is always the sum of its parts and if some of the links are weak, it’s imperative to work together and remove those chinks.

Team meetings, group discussions and brainstorming sessions are a regular part of a team’s set-up and during these sessions, you nail down the team ethos and culture. If you don’t live up to the standards set by the team, you not only let the team down but also show disrespect to the abiding members of the team. If the team bus leaves at a particular time, you have no business to delay it every other day. You may air your views, have an argument and even protest, but in the end, you must do what the team management approves of. If you find the team standards too lofty to comply with, you should not be in that team.

This suspension might lead to a little unrest for the time being, but it will set the right precedents for everyone who’s representing or wants to represent Australia in the future. At times, sacrificing today is important to guarantee a better tomorrow.

This article was first published in Gulf News/Hindustan Times

Unfortunately, Sehwag had a freakish dismissal in the first innings of the first Test and got a peach in the second. That’s what happens when luck turns its back on you. There are times when you don’t value your wicket or don’t give credit to luck as much as you should. Ironically, when you do and need the rub of the green the most, it deserts you. Don’t they say that the difference between getting beaten and dismissed is a four-letter word called ‘Luck’.

Sehwag, it seems, has ran out of luck and with it, the opportunities too. More importantly though, the most pertinent question that’s doing the rounds is whether this will mean the end of the road for Sehwag? Will he be able to bounce back? Does he have it in him to find the second wind, reclaim his Test spot and revive his career?

In 2007, after being dropped from the team, he came back to play Ranji trophy for Delhi. That was the most depleted Sehwag I’d ever seen. To see the man who demolished the Australian attack a few years back (I had the best seat in the house to admire his skills) struggling badly against some mediocre bowling, had been depressing. That was also the first time I saw Sehwag over-balancing and tipping over while playing. He was getting beaten by a foot, which meant that his judgment of lines and length was completely awry. Chinese Whispers had started doing the rounds about the future of his playing career; leave alone the prospects of doing well for India again.

But Sehwag was not the one to be deterred, for he went back into the nets, batting for long hours. Even if it dented his ego (mediocre net bowlers regularly got the better of him), he knew that he needed to travel that road. And when he eventually got back into the team, he was a transformed player. He, once again, was willing to bide his time and play. His career was back on track.

Sehwag, once again finds himself at similar crossroads. He needs to desperately rediscover his mojo, for one final wind would put him in the annals of history as a great player. The best way would be to head to England for a county stint post the IPL. He must make this summer count and then follow it up with some sterling first-class performances at home, next season. If he’s considering finishing his career just like he started, in the middle order, then that’s what he should do for the next 6 months. It’s important for him to show both eagerness and enthusiasm to bounce back, and only his stepping out of the comfort zone and stretching the envelope can prove that. Indian cricket would be richer if Sehwag comes back fitter, meaner and in-form.

What looks like the end of the road for him, might just prove to be a bend, provided Sehwag goes looking for it.

This article was first publish in Gulf News and Hindustan Times

Undoubtedly, Pujara must have found himself at the crossroads of his career at this time—while one way, the more lucrative and seductive path was luring him to change his style of play to suit the demands of the shortest format, the other, more arduous and less attractive path, was asking him to take the toughest call of his career without promising rich rewards. It’s a tough call to make for kid a coming from a big city, for seeing your peers walk away with glory and money is too big a temptation to resist. But for Pujara, a quintessential small town boy, that option didn’t even exist, for his dream wasn’t earning the IPL moolah but the coveted India cap.

In fact, his thoughts on the subject were not only unambiguous but also inspiring. His needs were pretty basic, he’d said, and hence didn’t need too much to fill his pockets. If ever he made pots of money, he’d use it for charity, he’d shared. That was Chetshwar, barely out of his teens then, a complete antithesis of his times, and reminiscent of the true spirit a sportsman must always harbor.

While his skills with the bat had been admirable, his philanthropic ambitions displayed a different side of his personality, which are likely to keep him in good stead for the future. It was nice to know, that the IPL money, or in fact no money, wasn’t going to deter him from his path to realize his dream of playing for the country.

Perhaps, the reason that when his peers were changing their games and chasing the IPL contracts, he was relentlessly piling up tons in the Ranji trophy. Pujara is a throwback to the cricket played a few decades ago. He’s one of the few guys (in this T20 age) who have mastered the art of batting time. While he’s been brought up on flat decks in Saurashtra, he’s worked very hard on his game to acquire a watertight technique. The fact, that he focused on just one format and kept working on his game to ensure that he succeeded in mounting big runs, developed the requisite temperament needed. To watch him succeed is a purist’s delight.

His Test success isn’t a personal triumph alone, for it must work as an inspiration for his generation to take up Test cricket.

This article was first published in Gulf News and The Hindustan Times

Post Dhoni’s belligerence and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s defiance with the bat, the Indian spinners finished the formalities with Ashwin being the pick of the bowlers, once again. His 12 wickets in the match should bury the growing concerns, at least for the time being, about his form and effectiveness in International cricket. While Ashwin was the pick of Indian bowlers, Harbhajan didn’t look the man who’d taken over 400 Test wickets and the one playing his 100^th Test. Apart from Harbhajan’s form, the form of India’s two openers also remain an area of concern. While they’ll get another opportunity to redeem themselves in Hyderabad, it might be one the last few opportunities that are likely to come their way.

With regards to the Australians, as expected, their ability to counter the Indian spinners on a turning pitch and their only spinner, Nathan Lyon’s ability to trouble the Indian batsman was thoroughly tested in Chennai. While Clarke and Henriques responded well to the challenge, others were found wanting. Now, just like England did after Motera, Australia is also likely to play two spinners instead of a pace-heavy attack. Though, unfortunately for Australia, they don’t have a Swann in the XI and Panesar waiting in the wings. Doherty is likely to get a game but it’s rather ambitious to believe that Lyon and Doherty will be able to do in Hyderabad what Swann and Panesar did in Mumbai.

There’s been a serious intent shown by the Australians to be aggressive against the Indian spinners, but they will do well to realize that aggression alone won’t see them through on these pitches, they would need the skill-set too. Unless Cowan or Hughes play the part Cook and Clarke played or Watson does a Pietersen, I’m not too optimistic about Australia’s chances in the second Test match too.

Similar to how it was in Chennai, I’m told that a parched pitch with not even a strand of grass awaits both teams in Hyderabad. While this would mean good news for India, it could be a death knell for the visitors.

With his style of batting—strong bottom hand, stiff feet movement and an unhealthy affinity with the on-side, one would’ve handed him far fewer Tests, for his mode of cricket was bound to have landed him in trouble. But Smith, first with his bat and then with his astute mind as a captain, re-wrote the rules of consistency.

It’s an extraordinary feet to not only survive but also thrive in Test cricket without having changed a technique that is considered un-Test like. In fact, his skill has made quality bowlers look completely clueless at times. Unlike most batsmen, good balls for him are run-scoring opportunities, and not ones to be left alone.

Is it his captaincy that builds the batsman in him, or is it the player in him that chooses to lead by example—that’s a tough one to answer. From a technical vantage point though, this is how he does it—

• Angles

Nobody has mastered the art of decoding the angles at which bowlers bowl better thanSmith. He has a reasonable back and across movement to all fast bowlers, which allows him to get inside the line of the ball. Since he covers all the stumps even before the ball is bowled, most bowlers get lured into attempting to hit his pads because the momentSmith misses one, he would be plumb in front. But that’s where they get it wrong, for Smith seldom misses the balls pitched within the stumps. To complement their lines of operation (within the stumps), bowlers crowd the on-side field, but even that doesn’t work, for Smith has the ability to create unbelievable angles with his bat. While most batsmen turn their wrist at the point of impact, Smith brings the bat down with face closed towards the on side. So much so that at times the leading edge of his bat is facing the bowler even before he’s made the impact. Conventional field placements simply don’t work for Smith, for his method isn’t conventional. It might look odd, but even the most astute bowlers have been sucked into this trap and have bowled to his strengths, which is on the legs.

In addition to that, he also knows how to deal with the changes in the angles created by bowlers switching the sides. Whenever a right-hand bowler goes around the stumps, he goes further across and works even the balls pitched outside off through the legs. This also ensures that the impact, if he’s hit on the pads, is always outside the off-stump.

• Immense self-control

For an opener who doesn’t play a cover drive, it’s an achievement to last over a 100 Test matches, especially when you play most of your cricket on seamer-friendly pitches. The most common mode of operating with the new ball is to bowl in the corridor outside the off-stump to induce edges off the front-foot. But since cover-drive isn’t Smith’s most preferred shot (the dominating bottom hand and limited front-foot movement makes him susceptible to nicking), he practices immense self-control to avoid playing that stroke. While he would rarely attempt a cover-drive to balls that aren’t full, he’s always quick to latch on to anything that’s short and wide. He’s a ferocious cutter of the ball and that, somewhat, makes up for his lack of fluency off the front-foot through the offside.

• Where to bowl

If targeting the stumps isn’t a good option, where does one bowl at him? Firstly, it’s imperative for the bowler to guard against the lure of hitting Smith’s pads and focus on the channel outside off with the length on the fuller side. If you err in line, you must err towards the off side and if you err in length, it must be on the fuller side. While he’s at his best when the right-arm bowler bowls from either over or around the stumps, he finds it difficult when the left-arm bowler bowls to him from over the stumps. The reason why a left-arm seamer creates trouble is that he has the option of coming close to the stumps and bowl straight on the off-stump line. That’s when Smith doesn’t get the desired angles to work with. It doesn’t come as a surprise that Zaheer enjoys an upper hand in their duels.

But no matter how close a right-arm fast bowler gets to the stumps (while bowling over the stumps) in order to pitch the ball within the stumps, it’s impossible to bowl a straight ball that pitches on off and finishes on the off, for either the swing will bring the ball back in or the straight ball will follow the angular path towards slips. Similarly, it’s impossible to come close enough to the stumps while bowling around the stumps, and bowling from the edge of the crease creates an acute angle, which Smith is happy to work with.

It’s relatively easier to contain Smith if you have a good left-arm fast bowler in your team, but if you don’t enjoy that luxury, it’s prudent to device an off-side strategy and stick to it for as long as possible. If you can’t get Smith out, it’s prudent to not fall into his leg-side trap.

When playing 100 Tests is a huge milestone, Smith has not only played but captained as many. He’d be remembered for both, and that is rare.

This article was first published on ESPN Cricinfo

Bowling slow

There’s always a temptation to bowl quicker on turning pitches but if bowling quick doesn’t come naturally, it backfires, for one tends to compromise on the technique. That’s what was visible during the first Test match where Ashwin bowled a lot slower and hence extracted more off the surface. Bowling slower also meant a bit more flight and that allowed the ball to grip the surface, extracting more bounce. On the contrary, Harbhajan chose to bowl a lot quicker and flatter, which resulted in the lack of bite. The problem with bowling fast is that it leads to under-cutting the ball, which results in the ball skidding through the surface instead of gripping it.

Looking for spin

Ashwin, in the past, has been guilty of trying too many variations too often. Just because he possessed weapons in his armory, he felt obliged to display all of them, at times in the same over. But here, he resisted the temptation of bowling different variations and stuck to bowling regular off-spinners instead. If the normal off-spin is causing enough trouble, there isn’t a need to do more. That’s where Harbhajan has lagged behind, not just in this Test match but also in the last couple of years, for his off-spinners aren’t turning as much as they used to earlier. Whether it has something to do with the over-exposure to T20 cricket or over-reliance on ‘doosra’ and ‘top-spinners’ is something only Harbhajan can and must figure out.

Length

All great spinners tell you that the moment the batsman starts playing a spinner on the back-foot, the bowler is rendered useless. A spinner’s deception lies in throwing the ball up in the air, taking it above the batsman’s eye-line and drawing him forward. Ashwin’s length in the first Test match was a lot fuller than Harbhajan’s and hence produced the desired results. Ashwin drew the batsman forward and induced mistakes. On the contrary, Harbhajan’s length was a little shorter and thus allowed the batsmen to stay on the back-foot.

One Test match doesn’t make Ashwin a better bowler than Harbhajan, for the senior pro has done it over a decade. Yet, it gives clear indications about Harbhajan’s current form, which is a genuine concern.

This article was first published in Gulf News and Hindustan Times