T20 and Tests: A Strange Parallel

It has been almost one and a half decade since the inception of cricket's newest format the T20. And as we stand today at the brink of the birth of an even shorter format - "The Hundred", I have a few ramblings about the comparisons between the longest format of the game and the current shortest format the T20s.

It has always annoyed me when I see many self-proclaimed purists of the game dismiss T20s as being too simple or being too heavily loaded in favour of batsmen. I am here to argue that T20 cricket should be played on the flattest possible decks and with short boundaries. (I can already sense the rage of the "purists"). However, please give me a chance to explain. The crux of my argument is that the traditional lovers of the game do not give enough credit to quality bowling in limited overs. Think about  Yuzavendra Chahal for instance. For the most part of his IPL career, he bowled on the flattest deck in the country with the shortest boundaries - the Chinnaswamy a.k.a "Bowler's Graveyard" (I know the conditions have changed now).  It requires an enormous amount of skill from the bowler to end up with an economy of less than 7 in those conditions. It irks me to no end that people still do not see such a bowling performance with the same eyes of appreciation they would a batsman playing out a new ball in bowler-friendly conditions. To me, they are very similar. 

My argument is that there is a direct correspondence between playing on a first-day green pitch on a cloudy day with a red-duke ball and playing on a flat deck with 65m boundaries in final five overs with the white ball. In the former, all the cards are with the bowler. Only the very best of batsmen can survive. Bowlers with even limited skills can thrive if the batting is of poor quality. In the latter, the tables have turned. All the cards are with the batsmen.  Only the very best of bowlers can survive. Batsmen with even limited skills can thrive if the bowling is of poor quality. In the Test Match, all the eyes are on the batsman. The questions being asked are ... does he have the technique? Does he have the temperament and patience? What separated Rahul Dravid or Jaques Kallis from the rest? They could survive on the greenest of surfaces on a cloudy day and against quality swing bowling. Even when all the aces were with the bowlers, they could find a way not just to survive but even to score. Where else can they showcase their skills but on a green top? On a flat deck, everyone scores. How can the best batsman show the world, why they are the best? 

In the last five overs of white ball cricket, all the eyes should be on the bowlers. It is a test for the bowlers when all the odds are against them. What separates Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah from the rest of the pack. Even if you give them a flat wicket, even if the boundary sizes are small, they have the skills to go for less than 7 an over. This is a very rare skill. How else will they be able to showcase this skill if not for a flat deck? If the surface is not flat and it is hard to score, then almost every bowler would be hard to get away. How can quality bowlers show-off their skills? How can quality bowlers stand apart then?

The correspondences don't just end here. Just like only, the very best bowlers can make full use of the helpful conditions and take a five-for in the morning session, only the very best batsmen can make full use of the conditions and score at around 15 runs per over. 

Just like the morning of a test match is a time for quality batsmen to show off their skills and stand head and shoulders above the rest, the death overs is a time for the quality bowlers to show off their skills. Just like flat decks in Test matches would result in lesser batsmen not being found out, bowling-friendly decks for T20s/ODIs would result in lesser quality bowlers not being found out. 

Kohli in South Africa

So the tour has ended. It was after a long time that I had watched a tournament so closely and with so much interest. I have woken up at 3 AM on almost every match day and it has been extremely fulfilling.  This blog is about the freak in the Indian team who goes by the name of Virat Kohli. This tour confirmed for me the greatness of "Virat Kohli, The Player".  As far as his captaincy and tactical prowess go, I think there is a lot of work to be done. In this blog, I will talk only about Kohli - The Player. 

After the third and final test match at Johannesburg, Kohli moved up one spot in the list of all-time great Indian batsman that I have seen. He pipped my boyhood hero Rahul Dravid to get to the second spot in my list. My list now reads Tendulkar, Kohli, Dravid, Laxman. The two innings at Johannesburg were not his biggest innings in terms of the number of runs. He merely scored 54 and 41 in the first and second innings respectively. It was, however, batsmanship of the highest order.

These two innings were a follow-up from incredible 153 that he had scored at Centurian. The pitch was not easiest to bat on. Most batsmen struggled to get going. Though not a quintessential South African wicket with pace and bounce, the slowness of the surface had made strokeplay incredibly difficult. While every other batsman struggled to get their timing, Kohli thrived. It seemed as if every other batsman was driving in the bylanes of crowded metropolitan while Kohli coasted along on an empty highway. India had lost the test match; a number of decisions as a captain were under question, but as a batsman, Kohli was in a different league.

Now cut to Johannesburg. India is 2-0 down in the series. Kohli is getting all the criticism for his captaincy - perhaps rightly so. Leaving Rahane out was blunder which has cost him the series. Leaving Bhuvaneshwar out was a bizarre decision. Kohli probably knows it. He won't admit it though. Graeme Smith says he has doubts about Kohli being a long-term captain. A green top. Kohli wins the toss. Bats First. A rare tactical brilliance. Importantly Rahane and Bhuvaneshwar are back in the team. While most captains would have fielded first after looking at the pitch, Kohli-Shastri combination figured that batting would keep getting tougher. KL Rahul and Murali Vijay started batting. Rahul looked clueless. Within seven deliveries Philander got him. In walks Pujara. But, Vijay leaves him. Out to Rabada. It all looks so familiar now. Kohli walks in. Has batting first back-fired? What will he say in the press conference? Is it heading towards another 3-0? Yet another overseas whitewash? Was Graeme Smith correct in his judgment?  What about all the macho-statements before the series? He doesn't have time to think about all this now. He has a job at hand. India is in serious trouble. Like in Centurian, the onus is on him, once again to bail India out of trouble. Rabada bowls him a full delivery. Kohli has the full stride forward - drives him past cover for four. Incredible Stroke. On a green pitch that is some courage.  Meanwhile, Pujara has faced 51 balls and he is still batting on zero. Just puts into perspective how difficult the conditions are. Kohli gets another full delivery. He is no mood to let them go. He drives it again. Connects it again. Four more. Moves on to 15. Rabada pulls his length back. Kohli cuts it past point. Four more. Plays a fierce pull-shot to get past 50. This time he will not get a hundred. Gets out for 54. Kohli had spoken about "intent", in the press conferences. He was mocked for it. At the Wanderers, Johannesburg, he showed what he meant. As he walks back, I think this must be his best under-100 innings. The freak is not done yet.

Cut to second innings. Kohli comes in at 58-3. A slightly better position. Still precariously placed. The Indian ship is barely floating. It is up to Kohli again to steer it - to take it to the other shore where victory resides. The sea has become extremely rough though.  Philander bowls. Gets an absolute snorter first up. Somehow survives it. Once again as soon as the ball is pitched up. Kohli drives. Drives past cover. Get off the mark. The pitch has become a snake-pit. The bowlers are Rabada, Morkel, Ngidi, and Philander. Three of them are bowling at nearly 145 km ph. There are whispers that the game might be called-off as the pitch has become dangerous. The batsmen have been getting hit as the balls are awkwardly rising from a good length. The commentators are criticizing the pitch.  Rightly so. Micheal Holding says he would give the pitch 2 marks out of 100. Kohli is not concerned about all this. He wants to win the game at all cost. A ball from rises from a good length and smashes on Kohli's gloves.  Kohli however, is not flustered. He is in pain for sure. He will not show it. Murali Vijay enquires if he is okay. Kohli waves at him. He will continue to fight.  Anything pitched up Kohli will come forward and drive. On a pitch like this, where the balls are jumping off the good length and smacking the gloves, most batsmen would hang back on the back-foot and miss out on scoring opportunities. Lesser mortals would think survival. Not Kohli. There is not a negative bone in the man. You pitch short. He will pull. You pitch it up, he will come forward and drive. He gets hit, he will wear the bruise with pride. He will not complain. At every moment he will let you know that he is the contest. Kohli moves on to 41. Already an incredible knock. It takes a vicious fast off-break-like delivery from Rabada to get him. In one match he has played two gems. In my book, he is just one step below Tendulkar now.

Postscript:  There was another incredible knock played in the same innings by Ajinkya Rahane who had scored 48 golden runs.