CHENNAI: Australian pace legend Glenn McGrath during one of his coaching stints in the city had said T20 needs quality Test cricketers. He argued one can learn basics only in the longer version and cited Virat Kohli, Dave Warner and Kane Williamson as examples.
True to his views, quality first-class cricketers are calling the shots in the Syed Mushtaq Ali zonal tournament. Goa veteran Swapnil Asnodkar is one. Known for his IPL exploits, the opener has over 5,000 first-class runs. He cracked a 47-ball 75 at MAC Stadium on Monday, although his team lost to Andhra.
“Even in T20, you need good basics. You can’t hit every ball, have to be judicious in shot selection and need to time the ball. This can happen only when you have strong basics,” said Asnodkar.
Hyderabad captain S Badrinath says good technique helps players play shots. The batsman with over 10,000 first-class runs scored a 26-ball 34 against Tamil Nadu on Monday, after smashing 49 off 22 a day earlier.
“When you have sound basics, it gives you confidence to play shots. Today Tanmay (Agarwal) played an extraordinary innings on a difficult square. He timed the ball well and his shot selection was good. In T20, one needs to be judicious in approach and there is a method in the slam-bang format,” reckoned Badrinath.
There are exceptions as well. Abhinav Mukund, who did well in TNPL and had a productive Ranji Trophy, is yet to click in this tournament. The same applies to Karnataka’s Karun Nair.
“One thing that helps a player adapt to T20 is mindset. Equally important is that one knows his strengths and weaknesses and works on them. Be intelligent, play smart cricket, that is how one can succeed in T20,” added Badrinath, whose team outplayed his former team.
“I was able to adapt myself. I knew my strengths and also knew which are the shots that worked for me and which did not. It is important to work around your game. I have been hitting the ball well in the last year or so and I am happy to contribute to Hyderabad,” added the 36-year-old.
Hanuma Vihari, captain of Andhra, has another take on how to succeed in T20s. “There is nothing wrong if one needs to sacrifice technique a bit to be more useful to the team. In this format, we have to play unconventional shots and be aggressive from the word go. But judicious shot selection and playing according to the merit of the ball is a must even in this format,” opined the batsman with a solid first-class record, who is yet to get going in this tournament.
ashok.v@newindianexpress.com