Defence must be foundation of Test batting: Gautam Gambhir

[rollingstoned]

Defence must be foundation of Test batting: Gautam Gambhir

 

India's head coach Gautam Gambhir attributed the team's struggle against New Zealand spinners in Test cricket to the influence of T20 cricket. He believes that focusing on power hitting has compromised players' defensive skills. Gambhir emphasized the importance of adapting to different formats and highlighted the need for solid defensive techniques in Test matches. 

 

MUMBAI: How did India get bamboozled by New Zealand spinners? Ask head coach Gautam Gambhir and he says it all "comes down to T20 cricket".

 

Speaking on the eve of the third Test at the Wankhede Stadium, Gambhir didn’t mince words when he spoke at length about how playing T20s has led to batters' downfall when it came to honing their defensive technique and the ability to play with soft hands in the longest format. India's batters were at sixes and sevens against Black Caps' left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who finished with match figures of 13/157 in the second Test in Pune. That was the first time the 32-year-old had taken a five-wicket haul in his 29-match Test career.

 

"It has a lot to do with T20 cricket. When you are used to muscling the ball, you end up forgetting the soft hands… stuff which used to happen eight or 10 years back. That is why I say that a complete cricketer is one who would play the T20 format successfully as well as Tests. One can adapt his game. That is what growth is.

"Growth is not only about hitting the ball in the stands. It's also about batting sessions on a turning track, where you know that you will not be able to hit in the stands, but you will be able to rotate better. For that, I think the foundation is very important.," said Gambhir.

"You see people like Virat (Kohli) and all the great players who've done well in Tests for a long period of time. They've always had the defence. The foundation of your batting in Tests must be defence and then you start from there."

 

The drooping shoulders and the grim faces after the defeat in Pune showed how much the series defeat has affected the team. Gambhir though felt that it's good that the team is "hurting". "Everytime you lose a game, it should hurt," he said.

 

 

He is right but hope he fixes it. 

[Lord]

He himself was flexing this approach after BD Test. Pretty sure he wanted this at start of series

 

If you want players who are good in defense, pick them accordingly.

[zen]

Count Pujara, a rare modern batsman who played test in the traditional way

 

The master of playing spin, the rock that  cracked oppositions’ patience, the hero of 100 adventures including BGT, …, …

 

Now cricket irrespective of the format is more or less played in a similar fashion. Need to back test specialists!

Edited November 1, 2024 by zen

[New guy]

Blah blah, all our defensive players have failed, only sarfraz, jaiswal and pant scored who all played aggressively.

 

If you try to change their okay style all of them will fail too

[singhvivek141]

Yeah,

Defence is foundation of Tests

Runup is foundation of bowling

Balance is foundation of batting 

Stable head is foundation of keeping

 

Isse aage badho Gambhir bhai, itna basics to shayd har cricket fan aur commentator ko malum hoga

[Sandz]

Has he told Rohit the captain about this?

[rollingstoned]

58 minutes ago, New guy said:

Blah blah, all our defensive players have failed, only sarfraz, jaiswal and pant scored who all played aggressively.

 

If you try to change their okay style all of them will fail too

Players can be attacking or defensive but the ability to be defend well must be there. Pant is aggressive but not incapable of defending good balls, playing some time and choosing which balls to hit. 

[Lord]

Jaiswal disagrees

[goose]

a smile is the foundation of positivity and hope

[raki05]

Sharma and Chokli are LKB who should be chopped and flushed in toilet.

[Vk1]

Recipe for overseas teams -

Place In and Out fields

Fastish left arm spinners

[Lord]

Toh kar na, hes still in commentator mode

[Serpico]

He aged 5 years in last 5 months 

[NameGoesHere]

Defence is the foundation of Test batting: Gautam Gambhir 

 

Boost is the secret of my energy: Kapil Dev

 

Aur kuch bolna hai, bsdk?

 

 

 

 

 

[Number]

Sun rises in the east.

[Trichromatic]

On 11/1/2024 at 4:00 PM, New guy said:

Blah blah, all our defensive players have failed, only sarfraz, jaiswal and pant scored who all played aggressively.

 

If you try to change their okay style all of them will fail too

 

Player with good defense need not to be defensive batsman

[vvvslaxman]

Before defending you have to pick the length quickly. If you defend full ball on the back foot  or defend short ball on the frontfoot you will continue to fail. That has been the issue for most of these guys. 

[figo6762]

Wash your hands before you eat 

brush your teeth twice 

wear protection

 

indian coaching is coming down to PSA’s 

[Lord]

 

[goose]

situation is very gambhir