Team India faced a daunting task in the second innings of the Hyderabad Test against England, chasing a challenging 231 on a turning track. Ollie Pope emerged as the tormentor-in-chief, crafting a magnificent 196. Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley also contributed 62 runs, frustrating the Indian bowlers. When India came to bat, Rohit Sharma displayed positive intent, but Yashasvi Jaiswal, known for his aggressive approach, surprisingly adopted a defensive stance, managing only 15 off 35 balls. Shubman Gill had another dismal outing, lasting only two deliveries. Tom Hartley struck twice, including Rohit’s crucial wicket for 39. Both KL Rahul and Axar Patel failed to leave a mark with scores of 22 and 17 respectively.
In contrast to the first innings, where Indian batters fell while playing attacking shots, the second innings witnessed a defensive approach, possibly due to the pressure of the chase on a trickier Day 4 surface. All batters resorted to defensive strokes, puzzling commentators Kevin Pietersen and Sunil Gavaskar.
Pietersen criticized the defensive strategy, suggesting it’s unsuitable for Indian pitches. The former England batter argued that the batters didn’t take risks throughout the second innings, which backfired for Team India. However, Gavaskar disagreed, advocating for a balanced approach with footwork crucial for defending on such surfaces, an aspect lacking as most batters remained on the backfoot.
“When you look at the shortest format of the game, there are youngsters who are growing up sweeping and reverse-sweeping. 10-15 years ago, batters didn’t play that way. But look at Ben Duckett for example, he’s grown up playing that way. He’s so comfortable playing that shot,” Pietersen said during his commentary on JioCinema.
“Gone are the days when it was a wonderful shot. These guys are playing it so easily. Traditional cricket, I don’t think it works against spinners in India.”
Sunil Gavaskar, however, insisted that a batter needs a mix of both, the orthodox and unorthodox shots to play the conditions well.
“It can work if you use your feet. We haven’t seen batters use their feet. You need to get as close to the ball as possible. How many batters have we seen who actually went down the pitch? What you said is absolutely right, you got to play the unorthodox shots as well. But you also got to play the orthodox shots, by using your feet,” said Gavaskar.
India had posted a strong score of 436 in the first innings with three batters – Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, and Ravindra Jadeja – being dismissed in the 80s.
