New Delhi, March 24: Bowlers dread the T20 format but have come to accept the punishment on the field as part of the game.
It may still allow the likes of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh to produce parsimonious spells but such phases are rare. With the batsmen bent on banging the ball, it becomes a challenge of a different sort. There is no ‘setting up a batsman’ in T20.
There is no time; no inclination either. “The T20 game is for batsmen,” rues Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai Indians off-spinner.
License to kill
“They have the license to kill. In most matches, you are not certain until the last ball. I know how hard the job is but you have to strive to contribute.
“You may have five regular bowlers but the pressure is constant. You have to bowl to get wickets, contain, put pressure. There is nothing like getting a wicket. It solves most problems.”
“It is all about four decent overs,” notes Delhi Daredevils seamer Ashish Nehra. Agrees Harbhajan, “See, you have 24 balls to bowl. Whatever variation you attempt, every fourth ball, you are bound to repeat yourself. So, length becomes crucial. In some cases, line becomes crucial. The revolutions count too, back spin, top spin. It just keeps you on your toes. You have to keep practising, try to be as perfect as possible, take the punishment in your stride.”
Like in any other form of the game, a bowler needs to out-think the batsman. “I have done it quite a few times but have also lost the small battles. He will come at you so you have to think a step ahead. He will look to hit, you know it, but have to innovate. How much can you innovate is again a tough exercise,” stresses Harbhajan.
The spinner may look to spin the ball into the batsman’s pads, cramp him with turn and pace, keep fielders in place in anticipation. But then the batsman can surprise the bowlers with a reverse sweep, cut, pull, or just walk down the pitch and smash.
New tricks
As Harbhajan observed, the bowlers are ‘learning new tricks’. Like the slow bouncers. Well, Andy Roberts and Malcolm Marshall would have termed it blasphemy. “You may bounce, swing, but it is a matter of connecting. Even a good ball can go out of the park but mostly it will get you a wicket,” says Harbhajan.
The off-spinner maintains, “My strength is off-spin. I have to keep guessing will he hit or will he not? I have to cut down on the stock ball, try the other ones.”
There is a shining example in Shane Warne, the Australian leg-spin wizard. He spins a lot, bowls the flipper with authority, the top-spinner with a lot of guile, varies pace on his leg-spin and works a lot on his stock ball.
Basically, he trains very hard. ‘Warne is a legend’, Sachin Tendulkar has so often said.
Harbhajan adds, “Kumble is a legend. We have so much to learn from Kumble. I am still evolving, trying to work on change of pace, line, length, this judgment is more important. I love doing what I am doing (playing cricket) because I can do nothing else. But honestly I would love to be a batsman (in T20) just swing the bat around.”
Tests paramount
Does he love T20? “Everyone is enjoying it. It has a future no doubt, will go a long way, but it depends on an individual. For me, Test cricket is more important.
Different
“It has emotions, character, skills, T20 is different. The two can co-exist but my worry is five years down the line T20 could be the only form of cricket left.
“I hope Test cricket lives….Every movie can’t be a Sholay, every T20 match can’t be exciting. You can’t play T20 all season.”
What is his suggestion? “You have to find a spot for all forms of the game.
“We have to preserve day cricket, or else we will stop producing great cricketers.”
—-Agencies