Sanjay Bangar, the former Indian batting coach spoke about batting in English conditions ahead of the third Test. The 48-year-old was part of the Indian team that toured England in 2002.
India scripted one of their most dominant overseas wins during their visit to Leeds in 2002. Centuries scored by Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sourav Ganguly paved the way for a famous win, but the platform was set up by a 170-run partnership registered by Sanjay Bangar and Rahul Dravid for the second wicket. Sanjay Bangar stood his ground in extremely challenging conditions and played out 236 deliveries for his 68-run knock.
Sanjay Bangar: The Fewer Shots One Have, The Better It Is In Headingley
Sanjay Bangar noted that keeping things simple was one of the things that worked in his favour.
While speaking on Brad Hogg’s YouTube channel, Bangar said: “What happens at Headingley or in conditions which are seaming and swinging, the less shots you have, the better it is. And I never had too many shots in my book so that worked to my advantage, when you know, I sort of was restricted or very limited in my range of scoring or the range of shots that I had.”
In the Leeds Test in 2002, Sanjay Bangar (68 in 236 balls) and Rahul Dravid (148 in 307 balls) joined hands after the fall of the first wicket and stitched a patient 170-run partnership for the second wicket after playing 414 balls. The duo showed immense application, composure, and grit to counter the English bowling attack in the challenging overcast conditions on Day 1 to give India the upper hand in the encounter.
Later Sachin Tendulkar (193) and Sourav Ganguly (128) cashed in on the perfect platform set by the top order and helped India reach 628/8 before declaring the innings.
England came in to bat after 180.1 overs on the field. Indian bowlers bowled impressively and bundled out the hosts for just 273 in their first innings. The bowling figures read – Zaheer Khan (2/59), Ajit Agarkar (2/59), Anil Kumble (3/93), and Harbhajan Singh (3/40).
England went on to bat again after Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly enforced a follow-on. Things did not change much this time either as the home team got all-out for 309 runs and lost the match by an innings and 46 runs.
Sanjay Bangar Don’t Think The Conditions Determine The Choice Of Openers
One of the positives for the Indian team so far has been the stability provided at the top of the order by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Sanjay Bangar noted how Rohit Sharma cemented his place following a good run of performances and KL Rahul’s credentials justified his place at the top of the order.
“I think it was a bit of a chance for KL Rahul that he got a nod in, in the first place because all along Rohit Sharma has been nurtured as an opening batsman since the last two years, since he played a lot of home Test matches and that is a great place to begin for any opener.
“I don’t think the conditions determine the choice of the openers as such but it was basically what was available and who were the personnel were and both of them were very very well adept at doing that particular role,” Sanjay Bangar said.
Following a lengthy break after events at Lord’s, India and England will meet at Headingley, Leeds for the third Test of the series, starting today-25th August.