The Sweepstakes

England Batsman Will Try To Put Pressure On Indian Spinners With The Sweep Shot. But Will This Ploy Work?

- Nitin Naik

England’s assistant coach and one of their best batsmen, especially against spinners, Graham Thorpe, issued a statutory warning a few days ago when he said his boys better not overdo the sweep while tackling the Indian spinners during the four-match series that gets under way at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from Friday.

“It’s a handy shot to have but sometimes the surface might not turn straightaway in India,” opined the former left-hander.

Thorpe is right. Under Virat Kohli, especially after the 2015-2016 series against South Africa, India have developed a more well-rounded attack of quality seam and spin, which makes the toss, such a factor on dustbowls, redundant.

Despite India winning the corresponding five-match series 4-0 in 2016-2017, few would argue that those pitches turned from Day One. That India recorded three of those four wins on Day Five, proves this as is the fact that in three of their five first innings performances, England got 400 runs or more. England basically lost to the genius and run gluttony of Kohli.

But there has been a school of thought that for visiting batsmen to succeed in India, possessing a good sweep, is a must.