Amidst Australia’s spin struggles in India, wicketkeeper-batter Peter Handscomb has recalled his chat with Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane on tackling spin bowlers. In the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy, the Aussie team lost the first two tests in three days where the Indian spinners ran riot.
While talking to The Age, Handscomb recollected his interaction with Rahane, where the Indian batter played some incredible shots towards mid-wicket by clearing his front leg against spinners. The 31-year-old spoke on how this technique allowed him to play over-pitched deliveries.
Handscomb said, "He was playing these shots off his back foot through midwicket which I thought were ridiculous. I was like, wow I need someone to teach me that. So we spoke about getting his front leg out of the way and being able to manipulate the ball from there. That helps your back foot become a scoring zone, and then if they overpitch, you can hopefully score off the front foot as well. Then all their good balls you just find a way to defend."
Like many Australian batters, Peter Handscomb has also struggled in India and has scored 109 runs over the four innings of the first two Tests including a 72-run in Delhi. The Victorian has averaged 36.33 at a strike rate of 46.38 and has been the second-highest runscorer for Australia.
Addressing his performance in the first two Tests, Handscomb stated that he was ‘outplayed’ by the Indian spinners. He further spoke about the Indian team pushed him to play a certain shot which eventually led to his dismissal.
He said, "India personally outplayed me in that situation. They gave me my scoring gap but without the reward, so it was just going to be a single, but tempted me to hit the ball there. And I fell for that and tried to manipulate the ball there when had that been my third ball of the first innings, I would have just tried to defend because I was still trying to understand the pitch and what was going on.”
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