New Zealand vs India 2014: Challenges that lie ahead for Indian batsmen
Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara
Team India’s 2013 campaign concluded with an overseas assignment, and co-incidentally, Dhoni’s devils kick-start 2014 with another overseas tour of New Zealand.
Having seen Team India return home empty-handed from their previous three overseas tours of Australia, England and South Africa, Indian cricket fans will be hoping for a change in fortune of their national side’s overseas form.
If India aspire to turn around their awful overseas form in the last 3 years, their batsmen will have to take the responsibility of putting up big totals on the board, and consequently helping their bowlers with that much needed cushion of runs.
India’s tour of South Africa right at the end of 2013 was a massive test of Indian batsmen’s technique against genuine quick bowling, but the tour of New Zealand, and facing up to the likes of Mitchell Mccleanaghan and Trent Boult is going to be an eccentric proposition to overcome for Indian batsmen. We take a look at couple of technical challenges that lie ahead of Indian batsmen on the tour of New Zealand. Keep reading.
A lot more seam movement off the surface to contend with
The aspect of Indian batsmen leaving the balls outside their off-stump during the Test matches against South Africa almost became a cliche as the series progressed, but in New Zealand, Indian batsmen will encounter a lot more seam movement off the surface and hence it’s imperative that they look to get on to the front-foot a lot more, and not look to play off the back-foot.
During the 1st Test match against the Proteas at the Wanderers, Dale Steyn struggled to make the Indian batsmen play on a ball-ball basis, and his predicament was partially because there was decent enough movement in the air, but the ball hardly moved off the surface. So, Indian batsmen were able to leave the deliveries based on their trajectory.
In New Zealand, Indian batsmen will come up against the ball, which moves off the surface and you should invariably get forward and negate any amount of swing on offer.
The below picture is a classic example of why it’s exceedingly difficult to play a ball moving off the surface and why you should be getting forward!
Rohit Sharma caught on the crease to a ball that darts in off the seam after pitching.
Trent Boult will pose the biggest threat of all the Kiwi fast bowlers – here’s why!
Trent Boult is a left-arm swing bowler, who is gifted with the ability of moving the ball both ways, and should be a hot cup of coffee to handle for the Indian batsmen.
He is genuinely quick, clocks 140 KMPH on a consistent basis, and brings the ball back into the right hander. Indian batsmen would do well to get right forward to him, and look to play him in the ‘V’.
Trent Boult nips one back into Tendulkar, who’s caught on the crease, and the moving ball creates a bat-pad gap to sneak through.
So, there you go folks, the tour of New Zealand will be a different challenge for the Indian batsmen from the one they encountered in South Africa, but if they can play efficiently off the front-foot, there’s no reason why they can’t pile up big runs on the board.
Good luck, Virat Kohli & co..