There's Nothing Wicked in the Wicket!

Its the end of day 2 and I have been hearing all this talk about this not being a good test wicket, so I decided to go through all the dismissals again and watch the highlights of both days before I conclude this is usually happens when batsmen come underprepared for the challenges they might expect in a certain country or conditions.

The easiest way out in such times is to blame the conditions than to reflect on ones own ability to counter them. To be fair, no English player has made such a comment and its more the middle of the road players who probably need some attention and find recourse in such banter. No less than Graeme Swann and Shane Warne have come out in full support of the pitches and the prerogative of the host team to prepare what suits them to win.

The Indians have been travelling to England for ages to bat on green tops that suited English fast bowlers who could swing and seam the ball with deadly outcomes. India have lost numerous series in England to England and dare I say on most occasions it was their batting that failed them.

Even now as India's record overseas starts to get better it is not just because the batsmen have become better at playing in conditions alien to them but also because India have a pace attack (and bench) as good as if not better than most countries. When was the last time England won two series down under, back to back? I rest my case.

Let me add another perspective. It was the same England that won the 5 test series against India in India in 2014 despite being 1-0 down at the end of the first two test's. It was thanks to the likes of Alastair Cook, Joe Root Ian Bell and a terrific player of spin, the now forgotten Gary Ballance who were ready to grind their way through and pile up a mountain of runs for their, as it turns out, deadly pair of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann to rip through the Indian batsmen. The same wickets were not a problem then. Hey, the wicket was not a problem in the first test even

If we observe carefully, two batsmen have fallen to premeditated sweeps. The Dan Lawrence dismissal is a classic example of poor technique. He is a tall man who lunged forward to a ball that pitched at least 4-5 feet in front of his bat...the kind you should be going back to. Yes it kicked up from the rough but the technique itself was wrong and he played the wrong length. On a wicket where the ball has a tendency to jump, you keep your elbows and hands relaxed and play as much as possible on the backfoot. You only go forward to a ball that you can absolutely smother. It is something you learn growing up in conditions that support spinners, just as much as you learn to leave seaming deliveries growing up playing in England. A bad wicket is not one where the ball jumps up from time to time, but where you cannot tell if the next one is going to stay ankle high or go for the throat. The Chennai wicket has done nothing of that sort, as is evident from the way the Indians have batted in the second inning, thus far. Numerous wickets in this test have fallen to poor shots and full credit to the bowlers for inducing them. Virat Kohli trying to cover drive an off spinner in the 3rd ball of his inning, leaving a gap as wide as Marina Beach is a classic example to show that even the best can make mistakes. What really makes them the best however, is their ability to learn from those very mistakes. Whether England learn from their batting mistakes in this test or make an even bigger one by not addressing them by paying undue attention to the sound bytes about the wicket, only time will tell.