AGENCIES
MELBOURNE
Former England star Kevin Pietersen has offered some typically forthright advice to Australia’s batters as they prepare for the upcoming four-Test tour of India. Either find a fast way of learning how to properly play spin bowling or don’t bother getting on the Mumbai-bound plane was the counsel from the man whose batting heroics were pivotal to England’s come-from-behind triumph on the sub-continent in 2012. The only team to mount a successful Test campaign on Indian soil since Australia secured a 2-1 win in 2004.
Pietersen, who scored 338 runs at 48.29 in that landmark four-match series including 186 in the pivotal second Test after England had lost the first, has decried the need for batters to prepare for Indian conditions by training on spin-friendly pitches. The 36-year-old claims that by committing to a series of practice drills to develop clear game plans and decisive footwork, batters can hone their techniques to handle spin even on the vastly different pitches that Australia provides. And he cites the example of his preparation for his recent Big Bash League stint with the Melbourne Stars as an example, having fine-tuned his batting against spin bowling on seamer-friendly practice pitches in South Africa shortly before arriving in Australia.
Asked for his thoughts on how Australia’s batters might best prepare to tackle the world’s top-ranked Test team in an environment where they have won just one series since 1969, Pietersen pulled no punches. "You’ve got to learn to play spin quick,” he told cricket.com.au. "Learn to play spin very quick. If you can’t play spin, don’t even go.
"When you get there (India) you’ve got to practise it, and you can actually practise it here - I can do spinning drills in Australia, I did them... on a South African wicket to make sure that my feet were going and picking length.
"You can, you don’t need to be on a spinning wicket to play spin properly or practice spin, you can be on any type of wicket. It’s about picking length, and picking lines and getting your feet going."
The failure of Australia to win a Test match in India since that series success more than a dozen years ago has been largely pinned upon the failure of successive batting line-ups to deal with the spinning conditions. Not just in India, but throughout Asia where Australia’s record since 2004 speaks for itself. Just three victories from 20 Tests played (two of those in Bangladesh more than a decade ago) and only two batters in the current squad with a Test average above 40 in Asian conditions.
