Dravid urges current batsmen to rotate the strike

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Cricket365
September 4, 2015

India batting legend, and current A team coach, Rahul Dravid has urged his country's batsmen to rotate the strike better against spin bowling.

Dravid, who was seen as one of the best players of spin during his 164 Test-match career, has praised the current generation for their shot-making ability against slow bowlers after fears were raised in the recently completed Test series against Sri Lanka.

Although India won the three-Test series two-one, the batting unit never excelled against the Sri Lanka spinners as they were spun out when they lost the first Test in Galle.

Although he praised the batsmen's ability to hit the big shots, Dravid feels they are not finding the right balance between attacking and defending.

Dravid told Cricinfo: "In terms of shot making ability against spin, this generation is incredible. The shots they play against spin like stepping out and hitting sixes, and some of the creativity is terrific.

"They have got that. One of the areas that could be a concern for Indian cricket is that there is a lack of balance; people are either defending or hitting big shots and it easy to set field to that as you can set in-out fields.

"The ability to rotate the strike and construct a partnership when people have put men on the boundary line, and not hitting cover or point all the time, being able to hit to long-on or long-off and playing risk-free cricket and building an innings against spin on tracks that are slow and turn a bit.

"I think that's a skill that needs to be worked on and developed because a lot of the young batsmen are either defending or trying to hit big shots, and there is no in-between.

"That puts pressure on you because in a high-pressure situation, it becomes hard to play a really big shot and if you keep blocking balls, the pressure builds up on you."