Sanjay Bangar says lower order gets same amount of batting practise as the top order

Team India batting coach Sanjay Bangar feels the increased amount of batting practise given to lower order batsmen has helped them a great deal and has led to greater contributions from the tail. In the recently concluded Test series against England, India’s lower order provided them with the much-needed stability with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav all scoring crucial runs lower down the order.

Under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, India has preferred to go with a five bowler strategy and the consistent contributions with the bat from the lower order has helped the top order batsmen bat without any pressure. Especially Jayant Yadav who made his Test debut in the 2nd Test at Vizag looked solid and became the first Indian to score a Test century batting at No.9. Led by the spin bowling trio India’s last four wickets have averaged 48.23 runs per completed partnership while England averaged even less than half that value.

“I believe the only way to polish your skills is to train in a correct manner with a lot of quantity and a clear plan,” Bangar was quoted as saying by the Mumbai Mirror. “Your body must get into right positions such that you are able to execute all the shots you want to. From that perspective, we ensured that our lower order got the same amount of batting practice as our frontline batsmen.”

He also heaped praises on Ravichandran Ashwin who had a dream year and has been one of the most important members on the Indian side. In 2016 he has scored 612 runs coming at No.6 and No.7 at an impressive average of 43.71 with two centuries and four half-centuries to his name. Besides that he has also bagged as many as 72 wickets in Tests this year. The batting coach conceded that Ashwin is a “very clever cricketer” who is always eager to enhance his technical skills.

“He has a cool head, his technique is superb, and he allows the ball to come to him,” Bangar said. “And you can’t tie Ashwin down. He has the cut, he will drive you down the wicket, and even against spinners, he’s a very busy player. Credit to Virat [Kohli] and the team management for putting him at No.6. With his experience he could control the innings there considering Wriddhiman Saha was relatively new, just settling in Tests,” Bangar concluded.