The stump mics are doing a great job when it comes to catching the players’ conversation as we get to hear some abusive language from Indian captain Virat Kohli when he said, “Shaam tak khelenge, G**nd phat jayegi”.
This statement was made by Virat in reference to the South African team and now one more video has been uploaded online which shows how Virat and Hardik devise a strategy to counter the reverse swing deliveries of South African bowlers.
The Indian batting once again collapsed as five wickets were down till India reached the score of 164. Virat was countering the attack well and he was holding one side strongly; however, he was not getting support from the other Indian batsmen. When Hardik came on crease, Virat knew that he was the last recognized batsman and when he got to know that Hardik was facing problem in playing the reverse swingers, he came up with a strategy to help his young partner.
As per the strategy, while standing on non-striker, Kohli would keep his bat on the left side if the shiny side of the ball is away from batsman which means it will go swinging away from Hardik while he will hold his bat on right side if the bowler reverses in. Morne Morkel and Lungi Ngidi, the South African bowlers, were quite confused to see Hardik playing their inswingers and outswingers correctly, thanks to Virat’s guidance.
Here is how the conversation between Virat and Hardik took place:
Kohli: Yahan pe change kiya (He changed it in this delivery)
Hardik: Andar ke liye leke hi bhaagaa tha (He started to run with the one that would drift in)
Kohli: Jo leke niklega agar change karega toh uska opposite hai (The side of the ball he runs in with, if he changes, the movement will be opposite)
Hardik: Main bataaun aapko? (Should I tell you on what he is doing?)
Kohli: Nahin nahin, mujhe dikha, main bataa raha hun. [No, no.. I picked it, I am just telling you the strategy
Watch the video:
https://twitter.com/slimshady_ansh/status/952575809637593088
Click here to watch this video directly on Twitter
Here’s one more video:
https://twitter.com/slimshady_ansh/status/952578986474749953
Click here to watch this video directly on Twitter
This is not the first time that Indian batsmen have come up with this type of strategy; earlier Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid also used such strategy as Sachin once disclosed,
“I was batting with Rahul Dravid. The ball was reverse swinging and Cairns was beating us two-three times. We were sort of clueless because we couldn’t see the shine. I told Rahul ‘I have an idea’. I said ‘I am closer to the bowler and when he is walking back to the run up I would be watching him closely and the ball. Whichever side is shiny, I will hold the bat in that hand. If he is going to bowl an out-swinger the bat will be in my left hand. If he is going to bowl an in-swinger, the bat is in my right hand at the non-striker’s end.”
Still three days remaining in the second test match and team India needs to improve their performance if they want to win this test match and the series.