Sunil Gavaskar explains reasons behind India’s struggle on Indore's turning turf by recalling his iconic knock

Following India’s nine-wicket defeat against Australia in the third Test in Indore, many former cricketers have come heavily on the Rohit Sharma-led team. Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden, who played 103 Tests for Australia, slammed the approach of India batters, saying it looked like they were playing to save their spots in the team.

Joining the chorus of criticism, India veteran Dinesh Karthik also criticised the poor show of India batters in Tests, saying India's top order has not been up to the mark and their failures are getting hidden by the contributions of lower order. He also pointed out India’s struggle against spinners in the 2022 Bangladesh Test series. 

Ahead of the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, there are reports that another spinning track is waiting to test Indian batters in Ahmedabad. To help Rohit Sharma and his men tackle the emboldened Aussie spin attack at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium, former India stalwart Sunil Gavaskar has offered two golden tips to India batters to tackle spin. While having a discussion with The Indian Express, he also recalled his famous knock of 96 against Pakistan.

'Javed Miandad is standing at silly point ready to take anything' - Sunil Gavaskar recalled his iconic 1987 knock against Pakistan

Recalling his iconic 1987 knock against Pakistan in Bangalore, he also explained the reason behind India batters' failure on the turning track of Indore. The innings also became his last appearance in the longest form of the sport.

The former batting maestro said, “The top hand guides the bat and the bottom hand decides the speed. So if you want to dead bat then the bottom hand has to have the slightest of holds on the handle. The top hand will bring the bat down as you want it, either straight or across the pads,” Gavaskar explained his technique to tackle spin.

Giving the example of his classic knock against the arch-rivals, Gavaskar advised India batters to crouch like a wicketkeeper as bending a bit helps a batter to go close to the ball.  

“Javed Miandad is standing at silly point ready to take anything. A grip where you hold the bat a little bit higher is a big plus on such pitches. When you drive, you are more likely not to hit it in the air. When you are defending, you slide the bottom hand a little bit down towards the shoulder of the bat – particularly when defending off the back foot, you are making sure the ball doesn’t jump up," the Little Master said.

“Just like a great wicketkeeper who gets up with the bounce, a batsman, if he crouches just a little bit – not too low – where his head is more in line with the delivery angle, he would get to know which one to play. How far to go forward or is it better to go on the backfoot. Standing upright does not give that advantage on turners. They would be able to meet the deviation and bounce better if you crouch a little like a ’keeper'," Gavaskar concluded. 

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