Ind vs NZ: The joys and sorrows of a high-risk game in a single frame

Gautam Gambhir, seen here with Rohit Sharma, has talked about building a team which can score 400 runs in a day and can also bat for two days to draw the match. , Photo courtesy: Murali Kumar K.

Captain Rohit Sharma said that he has made a mistake Batting first on Bengaluru pitchBut it might not have been a mistake after all. With better technique – which included defensive shots as equal partners in batting – India could have survived till lunch on the first day of action. And then, as New Zealand showed with the bat, it would have been a completely different game.

The modern batsman’s refusal to pack defense in his arsenal may be an exciting sight, but as coach Gautam Gambhir said after taking charge, “There will be days when we get bowled out for 100.” The high-risk style is set to continue, and whenever the Bengaluru situation arises again, there will be sad discussions of Cheteshwar Pujara and even Sunil Gavaskar.

Slapdash batting is argued to be the case when conditions are very favorable to the bowler and the chances of getting a death ball are high. This was a strategy occasionally used against the West Indies fast bowlers in the past, when the idea was to score as many runs as possible before an expected defeat. The element of physical danger was always present, adding to the sense of frustration.

bad planning

But when the plan should have been to bat for a few hours before the pitch cools down, there is no point in a hit-or-miss strategy. India’s 46, their lowest score at home, will remain a testament to poor planning. India’s team selection and batting order may also be wrong, but it is sensible after the incident.

Disappointments frustrate fans, but are generally good for the game. When India batted in the second innings they displayed the other side of the high-risk coin. But at 408 for three, they lost seven wickets for 54 runs and ultimately made up the difference. Whether it had to do with Rishabh Pant changing the ball after hitting Tim Southee out of the ground is hard to say, but New Zealand – always a popular team – were deserving winners.

Across the border, in Multan, playing its second consecutive Test on the same surface, Pakistan finally won a Test after more than three years. This was a high-risk gamble as there were seven spinners to choose from. Although there is nothing specifically against this practice in the manual – and the England coach also thought it was fine – it was slightly exaggerating home advantage. It is now readily accepted that countries do it in different ways, with seaming tracks in England, with bounce and pace in Australia.

It helped that Pakistan won the toss, leaving England to chase around 300 in the fourth innings on the basis of the ninth day’s wicket. The hosts used the three-day break in the middle of the Test to further dry out the wicket by using huge fans, a tactic they will use to help the pitch deteriorate faster ahead of the decider in Rawalpindi on Thursday. Are to do.

Sweeps, conventional or reverse, are no substitute for old-fashioned defense and innings-building as England discovered. The buzzball style can create its own pressure and batsmen have to live up to its principles.

The home team can decide what kind of pitches they want to suit their strengths. No one can object to this. But if this is taken too far it could result in the visiting team being given the option to choose whether they want to bat or field first. In other words, the toss may be out of play. The protest then would not be from the players as much as from the television channels, who prefer on-field drama and interviews with captains before the game begins.

If New Zealand had batted first in Bengaluru (captain Tom Latham said that is what he would have done), or England had batted first in Multan, the result might have been different. Still, when the favorites are defeated by the underdogs, it provides one of the thrills of the game.

Gambhir has talked about developing a team that can score 400 runs in a day and can also bat for two days to save a draw. The latter opportunity will come soon. Meanwhile, Bengaluru showed how a high-risk game works and how it doesn’t.