"It takes the spin out of plan" - Zak Crawley on England batters' strategy to sweep and reverse sweep against Indian spinners
Opener Zak Crawley has opined that the English batters' execution of the sweep and reverse sweep against the Indian spinners is a method to take spin out of the equation.
Labeled as massive underdogs before the five-Test series in India, the visitors stunned the Asian giants in the opening game with a 28-run come-from-behind victory.
Despite not scoring big runs in both innings (20 and 31), Crawley played a pivotal role in getting England off to an electrifying start. However, the English batters' exhibition of sweeps rattled the Indian spinners in the third innings of the match.
Speaking at a press conference in the build-up to the second Test, Crawley detailed how the decision to sweep or reverse sweep depends on the fields.
"I think sweeping and reverse sweeping when it's spinning is a good option. It takes the spin out of plan," he said. "I think the reverse sweep is more common for us, because there's just less field in there. They always seem to have two men out on the leg side. If they had two men out on the other side, we'd probably play the sweep...the reverse sweep comes probably just as naturally to us as the normal sweep."
The 25-year-old also spoke about how the Bazball method of aggressive batting comes naturally to the current crop of English batters.
"I suppose it ('Bazball') comes quite naturally as a lot of our teams are playing more aggressively," he said. "The mindset when I first came to England was to backlight or take your time and build a long innings and I didn't think that came naturally to me and a few of the others. A lot of us play a bit better under this regime."
The Bazball effect has been evident in Crawley's batting of late; the right-hander scored at a strike rate of 88.46 in eight Tests last year.
The Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes association has resulted in England winning 14 of their last 19 Tests, including a 3-0 series sweep in Pakistan in 2022.
"They're absolutely a top side in their own conditions" - Zak Crawley
Zak Crawley believes India are a formidable force in their home conditions despite several key players missing out in the upcoming second Test.
While Virat Kohli opted out of the first two Tests, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja suffered injuries, ruling them out of the second Test.
"They're absolutely a top side in their own conditions," Crawley said. "There are four games left, we have got to stick to what we do well and hopefully results come from there. Two very good players missing out but I'm sure looking at their depth they have two very good players coming in. So, that won't change anything for us too much. We're just trying to play the same, read the conditions on day one and see what happens for there."
The England opener also praised ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah and India's seam attack.
"He is an incredible bowler. I think he bowls a yard fuller in India or bowls long yorkers and things like that. They have an unbelievable seam of attack, which you can't take for granted," he concluded.
Bumrah led the way for Team India with six wickets in the opening Test, but Ollie Pope's breathtaking 196 and Tom Hartley's seven-wicket haul in the second innings upstaged the pacer's exploits.
India will look to level the five-match series when the action shifts to Vizag for the second Test, starting Friday, February 2.