Former England skipper, Kevin Pietersen believes that the threat of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja can be negated in the spin-friendly conditions at India as England will look to put to rest the decade-long curse of not winning a Test series in India.
Pietersen explained in an interview with The Times how he was able to pick the doosra from Ashwin. He said,” He used to load the ball at the back of his run-up, and I think he still does that now. He never ran up with the ball in his hand as an off-spinner and changed it late for the doosra; you can’t do that. He loaded it up early,”
The English batting legend has had success in Indian conditions with his most notable knock coming against India in the second Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai where he managed to score 186 off 233 deliveries and set a 206-run partnership with Alastair Cook. He added, “I was 100 per cent confident when he was going to bowl it and you’d see how many times I hit him over the off side. I’d see the doosra at the back of his mark and, because he had a stacked leg-side field because the ball was turning so much, I’d think four or six.”
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Pietersen also talked about how to tackle the threat of Ravindra Jadeja. He broke down Jadeja’s bowling where he said that the bowler looks to keep it one way and gets the odd ball to slide. He believes that if the batter’s technique is good enough then it should not be an issue for the English batters. He said, “I faced Jadeja a lot. It’s about technique. Jadeja is not Murali and he’s not Shane Warne. He’s a left-arm spinner who bowls it one way and occasionally gets the ball to slide on. If your technique is solid enough to play the ball that skids on, you should be fine. If your feet are good, and you are not planting your front foot and you are playing down the line of the ball, you should be fine. Just make sure you are not getting bowled or lbw.”
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The batter also mentioned that if you were to be dismissed, it should not be because the batter was bowled or lbw. He emphasised playing it late and having good judgement on the line and length of his deliveries and then reacting. He added,” If you nick it to slip, no problem at all. If you get bowled or lbw that’s a big issue. You have so much time to wait for the ball and then judge length or line and then move.”
India is coming off a draw in the Test series against South Africa and will look to take advantage of home conditions to take the series victory in the Test series against England which begins on January 25 at Hyderabad.
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