Playing for Warwickshire in April, India middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari didn’t actually rating too many runs. But the expertise of enjoying towards the Dukes ball in English circumstances will certainly stand him in good stead throughout the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) Final towards New Zealand and the five-match Test collection towards England.
Having final performed in the Sydney Test earlier than his county stint, Vihari believes the Dukes in contrast to the Kookaburra ball (in Australia) has one thing to supply to the bowlers all through the day. “The Kookaburra gets soft in Australia after a while. But the Dukes does something all day – off the wicket or in the air. There’s always something for the bowlers and that is the key challenge. When I came to England in April, it was quite cold. Even if you believe you are set, you can still be surprised by the movement. Like when I got out in my 30s against Essex, where I thought the wicket was quite good to bat on, but the odd ball was doing something because of the hard seam on the Dukes,” he informed ESPNcricinfo.
On his Test debut at The Oval in 2018, India skipper Virat Kohli had given him ideas on going through the likes of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Vihari says whereas they have been invaluable at that time, his set off motion has modified over time.
“At that point my trigger movements were different compared to now. I was young and playing my first game. I was moving more than I would have liked to at that point. My trigger movements were so far across that what he said helped me deal with the straight delivery better. Those cues helped and I ended up scoring runs and batting comfortably. But now I feel I am setting up to face the outswinger and inswinger decently. Now my game is much more in control. I know what my trigger movements are,” he mentioned.
Taking guard is a crucial issue for any batsman and Vihari too decides on marking his guard relying on the place he’s enjoying. “Yes, it depends on where we are playing. In Australia it was more towards leg stump because there is no lateral movement there, so you can play beside the line of the ball. Here, in England, you have to get more in line and judge the off stump more because of the movement of the ball. I start on the middle stump and because I do the trigger (back and across), I end up between off and middle. At the same time, you have to remember that if it is a stump-line ball, you have to play straight,” he identified.
Vihari as soon as once more reiterated that the largest challenge of batting in England is going through the Dukes because it retains bowlers in the sport always. “Definitely, that’s the challenge here. The overhead conditions play a part as well because when it is sunny, it gets a bit easier to bat, but when it is overcast, the ball moves all day. That was the challenge I faced early on in this season of county cricket – because it was quite cold and the ball was doing a lot off the wicket,” he mentioned.
He confronted shut to 3 overs from Stuart Broad and was dismissed for a 23-ball duck. Asked about how the pacer received the higher of him, Vihari mentioned: “I assumed it was full sufficient for me to drive, however once more, in England you must be actually sure together with your shot choice. In India, you may get away with a push, or even when it isn’t there to drive, you’ll be able to nonetheless get away driving on the up. If I have been to play that ball a second time, I might attempt to play as late attainable.
“Having said that, it was just my first innings in county cricket. I learned that I should play much later. In the second match, against Essex, I got 30 and 50. Essex are the defending champions and have a decent bowling attack with Peter Siddle and Simon Harmer. I thought I batted well, but I should have converted it into a bigger score.”
(with ANI inputs)
