Indian batters are facing a fresh challenge of tackling unorthodox tactics of spin bowlers at this T20 World Cup.
After facing difficulty in negotiating the off-spin of Gerhard Erasmus of Namibia here on Thursday night, India will run into another tricky off-spinner, Usman Tariq of Pakistan, in Colombo on Sunday.
Given Indian batters have been found wanting against quality spin recently, be it in Test matches or white-ball cricket, Erasmus was a good test on a Kotla pitch that may be similar to the one in Colombo.
Ishan Kishan
Ishan Kishan, talking to the media after India defeated Namibia hands down, elaborated on the approach to tackle unorthodox spinners.
“We [batters] have to trust our own strength. We have to be positive and not over-think. We have to play the ball on merit and not think about the bowler and his variations. We also need to use the crease [while batting] and irritate the bowlers and put them off-line,” said Kishan.
Like Indian batters, the ICC and its umpires are also facing a challenge with these spinners. Tariq pauses in his bowling stride before delivering the ball, while Namibian captain Erasmus delivers a few balls well before reaching the crease.
Currently, there is no definite rule which says that a bowler cannot pause in his stride, or can’t release the ball before reaching the bowling crease. However, with Tariq, there is the added issue of chucking and he’s on ICC’s radar to check if his elbow straightens more than the prescribed 15 degree when he delivers the ball.
Clearly, the bowlers are innovating to confuse the batters, just like the latter have been doing to the bowlers with their switch hits, scoop shots, etc, and this only adds to the flavour of T20 cricket.
