Harbhajan's helpful pitches theory holds weight

[G_B_]

7 minutes ago, maniac said:

Now this is a great argument to say why bowlers have it relatively easy these days.

 

Its certainly caused batters to change the way they bat

 

[Gollum]

Not so straightforward. Feel like I am repeating myself but still.....

 

Sure the number of rank turners in India post-2010 has increased, comparable to 90s (peak Sachin, Sidhu, Azhar made batting against spin look easy back then). Not too many rank turners in 2000s, no one will deny. But but but post-2010 we have also seen many pattas, Pujara/Kohli averaging 60+ at home, Rohit and Mayank close to Don, only possible because rank turners are the exception, not the norm. I still firmly believe 80% of our home matches are played on decks which are in favor of batsmen, think of 2019 RSA series or even first test here, heck the last Eng series where Jayant Yadav was scoring mountains of runs for fun. In no universe are modern guys better than Sachin, VVS against spin, just that we get enough easy conditions at home for our batters to boost their stats. This rank turner theory is floated by jealous Bakis (and few others from SENA) to undermine our home dominance, hope our people don't fall for that garbage. On average Indian pitches still produce more runs per wicket (by home team) than all countries except Australia IIRC. 

 

Batting against spin is at a historical low (at least since I started following the sport), especially the defensive part. This is T20 era, so hard hands, big bats, may fetch more 4s/6s, high RR, but defensive prods carry to slips, close-in fielders that much more easily. Offensive part of the game is better, but defensive part is missing, in tests where spinners have enough number of overs to work you over you need the defensive component more....apart from runs you have the 'time' factor in this format. Look at how our 90s/00s stars played, how soft their hands were. Same with players from other countries, no bad habits from T20s, lots of red ball practice throughout the year....this is where Ashwin-Jadeja have an advantage. Sure we have beasts like Smith and Root to contend with but in general quality of batsmanship against spin has deteriorated even outside India. 

 

Our stellar pace unit. Kumble-Bhajji never had the help of reliable, high quality pace units. Makes life so much easier especially when spinners hit a roadblock. So many times we have seen Shami, Umesh open the floodgates and then Ash-Jaddu cleaning up the remaining batsmen, like that 2015 Delhi test against RSA on day 5....without Umesh we would never have won that match. Sometimes all our spinners need from quicks is to break an annoying partnership and then it is an entirely different pitch.

 

Playing under skipper with ruthless streak, Kohli is far from perfect but under him we go with the mindset of picking 20 wickets every match, irrespective of conditions. That rubs off on all players, earlier we used to go 1-0 up and be content with drawing remaining matches. How often did we see Bhajji resort to leg-stump darting in second half of his career? We can never go back to that mindset especially with WTC format. 

 

Because of tight schedule teams don't get time to acclimatize to conditions. That favors all home sides, including India. 

 

So there are many factors at play here. Harbhajan is partly right but this theory is wrong on more counts. One can similarly flip the question and ask him how he would fare in this era without doosra, playing in a team where no one knows how to catch etc. Would Pujara and Kohli have been 60+ averaging batsmen in 2000s? No limit to this line of questioning. Playing in this era Bhajji could have had slightly better stats but no drastic change. Putting 2000s Bhajji in 2010s wouldn't make him a 25 avg bowler with 30 5fers, that much we can all agree upon. Rest is pure speculation. 

 

Anyway let us cherish players for what they are, what they achieved in their era. 

Edited February 25, 2021 by Gollum

[Gollum]

Not talking about DRS since I need to see some study how it is impacting bowlers especially spinners. I don't trust my memory here. 

[maniac]

Serious question: Rohit,Mayank etc are labeled as FTB for piling up runs on these pitches

 

Some fans: opposition quality has gone down 

 

On the flip side Ashwin and Jadeja have it easy on minefields.

 

Now should we play u-16 team to bring our team to the same level as some of  these oppositions?

 

Lot of flaws to these arguments.

 

Just appreciate and criticize the players for their returns on the field, no need to nitpick and question on their achievements.

Edited February 25, 2021 by maniac