Indian batters need to make mental adjustments: Zaheer Khan

India batters failed to get going on day four of the Leeds Test and were bowled out for 278, thereby handing England an innings and 76 runs victory. At one stage it looked as if India would bat well on day four owing to their good performance on day three, but that was not to be, as Ollie Robinson’s five wickets ensured India were lost their last eight wickets for just 63 runs.

With such a heavy defeat, fans, experts, and critics were left unhappy. While Maninder Singh felt Ajinkya Rahane needs to be motivated by Ravi Shastri, Inzamam-ul-Haq felt the senior players like Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Rahane, need to step up.

Jumping into the bandwagon, former India pacer Zaheer Khan too has felt that batters need to be adjusted mentally, than bringing technical changes. “More than technical things, mental adjustment is all you need. How can you score runs in this tricky phase? If you have observed after 20 to 25 overs, things become easier for the batters to score runs. So, you have to find ways of tackling those tricky little phases along the way,” Zaheer told Cricbuzz.

“Whenever those tough phases come along as a batter, you know that there will be some difficulties. You should think of what your plan, adjustments, and what shots you’re going to play.”

Batters need to understand when to attack and when to defend: Zaheer Khan

Zaheer further opined that these are very individual things, and it is not necessary that every player must follow the same rules.

“These are very individual things and cannot be expected to be followed by all. It is a team sport, everyone has a different personality, and everyone’s technique is quite different from the rest. So you have to bring in your changes and make the required adjustments and find a way of coming out of this phase.

The former India pacer concluded by saying that once those 20 to 25 overs are negotiated, then it is easier for the batters to bat. “Once you wade that tricky little period early in the innings, then things become pretty simpler from thereafter. Test cricket works like this only and, you have to understand which is your stage to attack and which is stage to keep quiet,” Zaheer said.