Sunil Gavaskar Explains Why Indian Batters Struggle Overseas, Offers BCCI Solution
India's series defeats to Ireland and England have raised questions over the batters' ability to perform on challenging pitches away from home.
- Sunil Gavaskar played down concerns over flat pitches in India, urging the BCCI to increase the boundary size
- Gavaskar pointed out that the same shots which were clearing the ropes in IPL were being caught in the deep
- "It's absolutely imperative, when the new season begins, to get the boundary sizes increased," said Gavaskar
India's series defeats to Ireland and England have raised questions over the batters' ability to perform on challenging pitches away from home. India were stunned 2-0 by Ireland after the top order failed to fire, before being outplayed 4-0 by England in the five-match series, with the IPL-heavy batting lineup drawing widespread criticism. However, legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar played down concerns over flat pitches in India and instead urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to increase boundary sizes when the new home season gets underway.
Gavaskar pointed out that the same shots which were clearing the ropes in the IPL were being caught in the deep in overseas conditions.
"People have been speaking about the Indian batters hammering the bowling on flat pitches and smaller boundaries in the IPL and then getting exposed in unfamiliar conditions in England. The fact is that there were flat pitches in India, alright, but it's the ridiculously small boundaries that flatter the batter, whose mishits can clear the ropes, while in countries with bigger and longer boundaries these same hits are caught inside the boundary line," Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
Gavaskar feels that BCCI should push back the advertising boards and boundary to make the most of wide spaces behind the hoardings.
"It's absolutely imperative, when the new Indian season begins, to get the boundary sizes increased so that our batters get used to that before the World Cup next year. At virtually every ground, there is plenty of space for people to walk behind the LED advertising boards, so it tells you that if this space is utilised, the boundary size will automatically increase," he added.
Gavaskar also pointed out that pushing the boundary ropes back by a few yards would help Indian spinners make better use of the conditions by giving the ball more flight.
"This will also give our spin bowlers the opportunity to bowl a bit slower so that they can get the loop and turn that a slower delivery produces. The medium-pace darters they currently bowl actually help the batter use the pace, get under the ball and power it into the stands. Adil Rashid and Will Jacks bowled almost 8 to 10 km/h slower than the Indian spinners and so were far more effective than them," he said.
India Cricket Team
Sunil Gavaskar