
In this modern era of where T20 batting demands swagger and a fearless style of innovation, Wriddhiman Saha’s knock on Saturday in a low-scoring humdinger served as a reminder of why red-ball experience is essential to a batter in any format of the game.
The match between LSG and GT at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow was played on a black-soil pitch which was also used for the 2nd T20I between India and New Zealand, earlier in January. That match was also a low-scoring one, with India managing to chase 100 runs and crossing the line in the very last over. Out of the 39.5 overs bowled that day, 30 were of spin. Even the world’s top-ranked T20I batter, the aggressive Suryakumar Yadav, had to temper his game and play the conditions to bail his team out of trouble.
Saturday’s pitch demanded a similar approach of caution and calculated aggression, of respecting the good balls and punishing the bad ones. The basic mantra of batting in Test cricket, of playing the ball late. When Shubman Gill fell trying to take on Krunal Pandya in a negative match-up, Saha was joined in the middle by Hardik Pandya, who too has had a taste of success in the long form of the game. While Hardik was focussed on denying the bowlers any breakthrough, Saha had yet to fulfill his role of maximizing the powerplay overs. And he had enough experience of playing Test cricket in the subcontinent to have the skills required to do so.
On came Naveen-ul-Haq in the 3rd over, and he had already started taking the pace off the ball, understandably using the advantage of the pitch for himself. Hardik punched him for a couple, then a single to give Saha the strike. The third ball Naveen bowled was short of length, angling into the right hander, which Saha, instead of pulling towards mid-wicket like he does usually, expertly guided it towards the right of short third man for a four. He tried it again the next ball, but was early into the shot and nearly chopped onto his stumps. Figuring out that the bowler is taking pace off, he decided to play with soft hands and took a single to retain strike in the next over. In the next over, Krunal tossed up a ball on middle, which most batters would have tried to thrash down the ground, but Saha made room for himself and played the inside out shot over cover for a four. Once Krunal found the ideal pace to bowl, the remaining over was just about ticking the runs over and playing safely.
When Avesh Khan came on to bowl, he gave the batters pace to work with, and Saha guided two deliveries into gaps for couples. The third ball was short and pacey, and this time Saha pulled it towards deep mid-wicket for another four. The next was a slower one, which he pushed with soft hands towards the off side for a single. The last over of the powerplay was bowled by Ravi Bishnoi, another spinner who is quick through the air. So Saha straightaway stepped out and placed the shot between the two fielders in the cover region for four. The next ball Bishnoi shortened his length, and Saha waited for the ball to come and cut it away for four.
By the end of the powerplay, Gujarat had reached 40 with Gill being the only casualty. Hardik had time to settle in, and Saha was striking at 141.66. On a slow and low pitch, it was not a bad powerplay and Saha went on to make 47, and Hardik 66, unlike the Lucknow batters, where none except Mayers seemed to respect the conditions, and Rahul failed to capitalize on his strong start. It was proof enough that red-ball credentials help batters to adapt across situations, that in a format so fast-evolving, the orthodox style can still sometimes be the best way to go.