RAHANE TECHICAL ADJUSTMENTS FROM MOHALI TO DELHI

Ajinkya Rahane strode out to bat in the 1^st innings of the 4^th Test last week in Delhi, his Test figures in India read six innings for 47 runs at an average of 7.83. His highest score was 15 and his longest innings was 47 balls.  Few days later Rahane had bumped his home average to 39.3, scored two hundreds and importantly batted for 427 with only one dismissal.  

So what did he change technically in between the 1^st Test and the 4^th Test.

During the week Rahane stated he had practised for over two hours after the Nagpur Test. “The idea was to just practise defending the ball” he told reporters in Mumbai.  Second parameter was that he wanted to be patient at the start of this innings. “I thought I was playing shots very early in my innings”.

From his two hour session with batting coach, Sanjay Bangar it was evident Rahane had to firstly get his defence in order to succeed. Take a look at three important changes Rahane made before Delhi.

FRONT FOOT DEFENCE

Take a look at the six images below. Top row is from the 1^st Test in Mohali and the bottom row is from the 4^th Test in Delhi.

Image 1 A                                                          Image 2A                                           Image 3A

      

Image 1B                                                          Image 2B                                           Image 3B

  

From the first column (images 1A and 1B) the first thing that stands out is that Rahane has a bent his front foot knee. This enables him to get lower and stretch further to smother the spin on the front foot. From image 3B it is worth nothing his head is right over the ball, weight is going forward, well balanced and he bat is at an angle. In Mohali (image 3A), the lack of flex in his front knee meant he was not able to stretch that extra foot further which caused him to lose balance and play with an almost a vertical bat. 

Yes, the ball did bounce a bit more in Mohali but the image also shows had Rahane  stretched further forward rather than been stuck on the crease playing upright and pushing hard, he could have avoided jabbing the ball to short leg. Rahane was only able to get a longer stride due to the technical adjustments mentioned before.

The middle column (images 2A and 2B) illustrates what Rahane had spoken about during the week and that was playing with bad and pad together.  Worth noting how low Rahane’s head is while making impact with the ball.  In Mohali (image 2A) his head is above the height of the stumps while in Delhi (image 2B) the eye level and the head is almost below the height of the stumps.

The ever so slightly crouched stance and the flexed knee has enabled Rahane to get his front foot across the off stump and play with bat and pad together.

 STANCE AND THE BAT TAP

After his dismissals in Mohali, Rahane also slightly altered his stance and also changed his bat tap.

In Mohali (Image 3A and 3B) ,Rahane stance was very upright and his bat was held up in the air at the height of the stumps as he waited for the bowler (image 3A).  Then as the spin bowler is running in he simply placed his bat down and then played the ball.

Image 3A (Mohali)                           Image 3B (Mohali)                          

  

This had been his normal stance for the past year and half but come Delhi he had altered it.

Image 4A (Delhi)                              Image 4B (Delhi)

 

Firstly, he was crouched just a slightly lower (image 4A) with his head position a lot lower at the stance than it was in Mohali (Image 3A). But the big change was in his bat tap. Instead of having the bat in the air, Rahane had decided to tap the bat three or four times on the ground as the bowler ran into bowl. The back lift on the taps were also very minimal (not taking it higher than more than one third of the stump height (Image 4A).  Then he continued to play the ball on its merit.

From speaking to various experts it is believed the small short bat taps close to the ground enabled Rahane to reduce his bat speed which assured his hands were not getting too far away from his body and also stayed low. The lowering of the stance also allowed him to stay lower to the ground.

 RUNS SCORING AND EXECUTION

One other vital point stated by Rahane this week was that he wanted to avoid playing shots early in his innings. It was worth noting three out of four of Rahane’s dismissals had come while attempting drives through the point and cover region. 

In the 1^st innings at Mohali he tried to drive a ball that pitched into the rough through the covers but edged it to slip. In Nagpur he tried an expansive drive through the covers and left a massive gap through bat and pad. Then once again in the 2^nd innings attempted a front foot square drive out of the rough only to succeed spooning a catch behind point.

Come Delhi and it was the big drives through covers on the front foot that Rahane resisted throughout his innings. Rahane did not score off the front foot through the off-side in his first 20 balls he faced against spinners. Both his boundaries early in his innings had come short balls of the back foot. 

Despite five balls of those initial 20 balls pitching only two meters from the stumps Rahane restrained himself from driving off the front foot through the cover region until he had crossed fifty.  In fact he had only scored two runs on the front foot against spinner through the off side when he reached fifty.

Then even in the second innings and with a hundred under his belt Rahane persisted with his game plan of restraining himself from driving through the off-side against spinners. It took him 15 balls to finally get a run on the front foot from the spinners and like the first innings, he had resisted the fate of driving the ball through the covers until he reached fifty.  

By going back to basics and through astute planning Rahane had revealed his ability to succeed on his home turf. 

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A 16 MAN SQUAD ONCE THE PLAYING 11 ARE ANNOUNCED?

India is due to start Test series at home after over two years.  Plenty of changes have taken place since that last Test match on home soil in November 2013.  No Tendulkar, no Dhoni, no Fletcher – in fact no head coach just a team director and a new captain with innovative ideas.

But one constant has still remained and that is selection of an over-extended squad of 16 for a home Test.  India amongst the top nation seems to be only country that picks such a large squad for a home series. While the likes of England, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia may opt to pick 15 or 16 members couple of weeks prior to the Test by the eve or the morning of the match the squad is trimmed down to 12 or 13. This ensures the members of the squad not participating in the match can then go and play in the domestic matches as there services are no longer required.

Now naturally for that theory to be applied the scheduling and the window between the domestic matches and Test matches needs to be sufficient so in case of an injury a player can be rushed into the Test squad after the respective domestic matches.

In the past the India has crammed back to back Tests with only three days in between games making it difficult to release players once the Test has started.

But this season Test 1 and Test 2 have a four day break. Test 2 and Test 3 have a 7 day break.

Importantly with the 1^st Test going from 5^th Nov – 9^th Nov and a series of Ranji Trophy matches starting from 7^th Nov – 10^th Nov, it means once the playing 11 are confirmed on the morning of the 5^th November what is the need for the other 2 or 3 players to float around the team when they can participate in Ranji Match until the 10^th Nov and then still be back with the camp on the 11^th (still 2 days before the commencement of the 2^nd Test)

Similarly the 2^nd Test commences on the 14^th November as do the next round of Ranji Trophy matches.  The selectors, coaching staff and the players are keen for the bench players to gain match practice then at least 2 if not 3 members of the squad can be sent to play for their respective team on the evening of the Test Match.

In the past selectors have stated the purpose of maintaining a large squad through the duration of the Test match is so reserve batsmen and bowlers can tussle it out in the nets.  But wouldn’t it be wiser for players to gain match practice than repeated net sessions.  On the past experiences the most productive sessions the spare batsmen receive during the five days is by the virtue of 100 odd throw downs from the batting, fielding and the throw down specialist.

In countries such as Australia, South Africa and England this is a common trend. In fact local grade cricketers are used as substitute fielders to ensure bench players can get an opportunity to go back to state teams and get a game under their belt.

Players such as Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane have in the past warmed the benches for close to a month and have been starved of match practice. There may be obstacles but if the BCCI and the state teams can share the same ground then the smallest things can start making the difference at the top. 

WHERE IS THE BENCH STRENGTH IN INDIAN BATTING?

For a moment roll your eyes over the names of the Indian squad that toured Bangladesh.  It was as per predicted and boasted no surprises. Then think about the backup batting options and only Ambati Rayudu’s name will appear in front of you.

The fact that Rayudu is the successor for any batsmen in the current line-up is contentious enough but what follows after him in terms of depth begs the question where is the next generation of batting?

Over a decade ago when the ‘golden generation’ (Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Sehwag) formed the nucleus of the Indian batting rarely did the selectors face a dilemma of picking two substitute batsmen for home or away series. Indian domestic cricket was churning out young batsmen that could be thrown into the deep end.

Luckily for India, the longevity of the “golden generation” meant the migration phase to the next group would start from around 2011 and beyond. By then a crop of four youngsters had completed their apprenticeships and were ready for international cricket or some had a taste of it already from the ages of 18 or 19.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara broke into the Indian team across different formats only one or two years apart from each other. Come 2011 all of them had been part of the Indian Test squad or played in a Test match.  Each one of them deserved it after having proved themselves in domestic cricket right from the tender age of 17 or 18 onwards.

In 2011, Kohli had played 5 years of domestic cricket, 22 Ranji trophy games, scored 1517 at an average of 56.  Pujara before his Test Debut played in 5 years of Ranji Trophy amassed 3043 runs at average of 68. Rohit should have debut at 22, if it wasn’t for an accident on the morning of the Test, at that time his 5 years of Ranji Trophy he had accumulated 1996 runs at average of 60. Finally, Rahane the late riser in the pack scored 2994 runs at 69 before he was picked on the bench.  At the age of 22, each of them had an average over 55 showcasing their class.

Back to the current state and India barely have one batsmen ready to fill a vacant spot.  With the next World Cup four years away it seems pointless to persist with Rayudu (29 years old) and given the selection for the Bangladesh series seems to suggest the selectors are not yet ready to even let youngsters warm the benches. But in reality are they any prospering youngsters. On the basics of the IPL, there seems to be abundance of them but on the evidence of the Ranji Trophy only on stands out.

Perhaps it is a just a transition phase so currently the cupboard seems empty.  Batting prodigies such as Sanju Samson, Unmukt Chand, Manadeep Singh and of late Karun Nair do exist but their records are way short of Kohli, Pujara, Rohit and Rahane achievements at their respective ages. 

To put it in perspective, Sanju Samson has played Ranji Trophy for last four season. He has played 21 games scored 1386 runs at an average of 37. Unmukt Chand is now 22, has played 5 season on Ranji Trophy only to average 39 despite playing 34 matches.  Manadeep Singh, 23, has played in 5 domestic season, for 48 matches but only to average 45.

One may argue that one day cricket is a completely different art but if that is the case then why are the likes of Kedar Jadav and Robin Uttappa the next cabs of the list. Both Uttappa and Jadhav names are on the selection table because of the sheer amount of runs they have scored during the four day format. 

Rohit and Kohli might have been exposed to one day cricket earlier but when they went back to Ranji Trohy at the age of 21 and 22 respectively there batting averages still hovered over 55 and 60.

The only batsmen to rise to the top on the similar path to Rahane or a Pujara is KL Rahul. Having made his Ranji Tropy debut in 2010/11 season, Rahul has improved with every year that has passed. In his last three season he has averaged over 50 each year. At the dawn of his Test career, he was 22, having scored 2376 runs at 58.26.  No other competitor stood in sight.

One other aspect worth noting is in the last three years of Ranji Trophy, the top 5 leading runs scorers feature only one batsmen under the age of 22.  KL Rahul features in 2013/14 and 2014/15 season.

Whilst in the three years before that so starting from 2008/09 top 5 out of 6 6 were under the age of 22. In 2009/10, 3 out of 5 were under 22, In 2010/11 it was down to 2. 

Coincidence or not, 2008 was the inauguration of the IPL, so the pathway to the top for many upcoming batting prodigies lay an alternate route. The new format has probably hindered the development of youngster. Perhaps it is a case of maturing at a later age and hence there are no next generation 22 year olds warming the bench for India.

Only time will provide us the answer or maybe it will be the newly appointed next generation coach Rahul Dravid. But when the options for fast bowling outweigh the batting options you know Indian cricket has changed dramatically.

SMITH 100 SHOWS HE IS READY TO TACKLE ANY CONDITIONS

Before the start of the 2^nd Test match, Steve Smith had stated his latest goal was to solve Australia’s number three problem and emulate the great Ricky Ponting. Twenty four hours later, Smith had started his new mission in fine style by scoring a hundred in just his 3^rd outing at number 3. For the record it had taken Ponting 12 innings, his predecessor David Boon had taken 9 innings.

But records are least of Smith’s concerns, he simply loves new challenges. Despite his prodigious form and run amassment in the past year, batting against a new ball at number 3 was one examination Steve Smith was to confront.

His recent success would have pencilled him to succeed. But as Steve Smith will tell you from his first introduction to Test cricket, the game is not as easy as it looks especially given the conditions at Sabina Park on the first day of the 2^nd Test.

Coming in on the 5^th ball of the day, was the earliest Smith has walked to the crease at least at the Test level. In next hour, he would overcome one of the finest spell of opening spells from Jerome Taylor.

During an enduring first hour, Smith only hit one boundary but his defence was impeccable. He was only beaten twice. Even the firm clips of balls angled towards his pads were treated with respect, as Smith offered a straight bat knowing playing across the line against the swinging ball would be catastrophic.

The bowling from Taylor was of the highest calibre. He was impeccable with his line and length. The ball swung late and jumped from a length. The West Indian quick might not be James Anderson but certainly resembled the Lancastrian.

Fast forward another month and Smith will be in England against the master himself, James Anderson. England quick will be in his own conditions and chances are Smith will stumble upon similar challenge quite frequently. This was a perfect rehearsal for what lies ahead. 

The runs Smith amassed after the first hours have now become customary. As the conditions eased Smith shifted gears scoring 30 in 36 balls. But Clarke perished from the other end, Smith immediately realised it was time to curtailed himself as he went back to his shell to score next three runs in 30 balls. It was adjusting his game to the team situation.

With each innings Smith manages to overcome brand new challenge, batting at 3 in tough conditions is certainly one hell of a challenge and with his ton, he has shown not only is he ready for the number three slot but he is ready for Anderson and co under the cloudy skies facing a brand new swinging duke.