Batting coach Sanjay Bangar makes Kohli & Co bat against coloured rubber balls for practice

Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar used an innovative method to make his batting line-up practice today. India is currently preparing or the 4th Test against England in Mumbai. Apart from the regular drills, Batting coach Sanjay Bangar thought of adding an interesting twist to the batting session today.

Keeping the focus on the importance of playing spin well, Bangar chose to make his batsmen understand the importance of using the feet against spinners. To make them understand and get used to it, Bangar used coloured rubber balls – a move from the conventional red ball.

The balls were of different colours – red, blue, yellow, green, orange.Each ball was placed at particular lengths and was meant to be played according to the way banger specified. It was a very clever method that not only forced the batsman to use feet and get used to doing it but also made him adjust to the extra bounce which the rubber ball normal produce.

Here’s what Sanjay Bangar’s drill was all about:

Red – Ball would be full. The batsman would have to get on to his front foot, get to the pitch, keep his hands low to smother the spin and bounce

Blue – Come down the wicket and play towards mid-off

Yellow – Different footwork requiring the batsman to get to the pitch of the ball and play the on-drive

Orange – Slightly shorter, so it is difficult to defend. The batsman would have to get down and play the sweep shot while ensuring the back knee is in contact with the ground

Green – Get to the pitch and go over the top

The video shared by BCCI. tv shows Indian skipper Virat Kohli batting to the drill. He looked comfortable as he went through the drills in with ease. With this training, India would hope to deal with the England spin trio of Adil Rashid, Gareth Batty and Moeen Ali in the fourth Test in a more dominating fashion.