Indian cricket team batting coach Sanjay Bangar believes that rotating the strike in Tests is something the country’s batsmen need to work on and improve.
“Strike rotation is something we are all making our batsmen (aware) of. We are working on it. It is not only for one individual batsman but it is for the entire batting group,” Bangar said.
“How you can achieve it is you need to know the fields, you need to know the bowling plans, you need to play with softer hands closer to the body. That is an awareness the batting group is working on and there has been a marked improvement in that area.”
The former all-rounder said Indian batsmen have become more and more effective as time has progressed.
“If you assess the performance, everybody has flowered into a very, very capable and effective batsman for the team. If you go through their statistics, with over 30 centuries collectively in the last year, so far most of them have been able to do justice to their talent,” the 42-year-old said.
With India currently having two captains — Virat Kohli for Tests and Mahendra Singh Dhoni for limited overs cricket, Bangar said their challenge will be to keep the team as best prepared as possible in all aspects of the game so that whoever leads the team gives himself the best chance to win.
“Every individual captain has his own style. This is an experiment, which hasn’t been, tried much but is done now in Indian cricket. Both of them have immense respect for each other. Both of them know the kind of cricket the teams they are leading want to play. Our job is basically to integrate our ideas into their vision,” the coach said.
“Preparation for us is vital with both captains. It’s a challenge to keep the team as best prepared as it can be in all aspects of the game so that whoever leads the team gives himself the best chance to win games for the country.”
