Batting beauties and the greatest shot ever played

The Endangered Species Act may well have a new inclusion very soon in the form of the modern day ODI bowler. That’s a species that has a realistic threat of extinction staring in its face.

How else would you explain 350 runs hunted down in Pune by the Indians and with Virat Kohli – their architect-in-chief – at the helm of affairs. It is one thing to have a small ground, but to also have a benign batting beauty to complement it would make the modern day bowler resemble a bowling machine, devoid of any support whatsoever from the surface.

Batsmen pick the line and hit through with utter disdain and contempt. The opinion that one had of batting as a life of torment is now a thing of the past – at least on such pitches. The drama between bat and ball is hugely skewed as skill and theatre of an even contest takes a back seat.

Bowlers resemble hapless convicts taken to the gallows without a fair trial. The hauntingly repetitive high scoring games, with bowlers being gunned down, is a sure shot warning signal to the game's administration. Surely, an amendment of the rules to bring sanity to the dying breed of bowlers is required now more than ever.

Already under threat from the insanely popular T20 format, for ODI cricket to hold it's head high, it needs some life-altering medicine. Sooner the better, as limited overs cricket will be rendered pedestrian and repetitive without any scope for the unforeseen.

Flat tracks and hungry batsmen

This series between India and England might just match the series versus Australia in 2013. For scores in excess of 350 were regularly chased down back then with alarming ease. The prospect might appear alarming for Eoin Morgan’s outfit. India, despite missing Rohit Sharma in their ranks, come across as a side with formidable batting depth.

As for the youngsters watching, concrete roads masquerading as cricket pitches is surely not an alluring proposition for them to take up bowling.

The surging confidence of Virat and the team can be gauged by their decision to field first on winning the toss.The heartening factor for India was that despite losing big players like Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni and tethering on a brink at 60 for 4, unearthed another cool head in the form of Kedar Jadhav emerged.

The local boy Jadhav contributed 102 in a thrilling exhibition of powerful hitting worth all of 200. The crowd had their money's worth. With Karun Nair not in this mix, this match further espoused the cause of Kedhar Jadhav. Surely, the search to groom and nurture a batsman at a vulnerable No.6 has to end with him.

The selection of Yuvraj Singh, fashioning a comeback after 3 years, is a step in regression. And there are reasons aplenty as talented players wait in the wings. Manish Pandey (who scored a hundred in Australia in a run-chase), Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu (who were part of the 2015 World Cup squad) are just some of the several waiting for an opportunity.

Maestro in motion

The genius of Virat was yet again displayed in full bloom as he orchestrated another spell-binding chase in a nuggety batting masterclass. The innings reeked of pure velvety class. A tall elbowed jab with a straight bat off a pacey cutter from Chris Woakes must surely be one of the greatest shots the game has ever witnessed.

Played with almost a vertical blade, that shot epitomised the oozing class and time he has at disposal to blank the opponents. That he has already compiled 27 hundred in his ODI career and orchestrated 17 in victorious run chases boggles the mind. At 28, with a fit body and an insatiable appetite, he may well end up as the equivalent of Bradman in this format.

The beauty of Virat's batting is that he has learnt to bat before learning to bash. Secure in technical exactitude, rarely does he not find the gaps. He unmistakably punishes the bad ball on offer. His batting is all about instincts trained hard and driven by autopilot.

There is something about run chases that gets the juices flowing and habituated by that great feeling, the India captain has taken his game to stratospheric proportions. If his debut game as a Test match captain at Adelaide (despite twin brilliant hundreds from him) was a lost cause, he ensured that debut outing at Pune was frozen for posterity.

An old duel rekindled

That the Englishmen have come a long way after their suicidal campaign in the 2015 World Cup in Australia, pleases me no end. There is a sense of purpose and coherence in their approach. In Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler, they have a nucleus of a batting squad that is far removed from the likes of Bell and Ballance who served them in the World Cup.

Also, a selection pattern that was warped and woefully out of sync contributed to an ill-fated World Cup campaign. That there is no space for a red-hot and inform Johnny Barstow indicates the intense competition for their batting spots. Their four-man pace attack is good provided they get them to be more disciplined in bowling to the set fields. Also, should they get the yorkers right and are accurate often enough, the flatness of the pitch can be taken out of the equation.

India-England ODI campaigns are closely contested and I was part of a lovely series late in 2001-02 season. England, with a fiery “Freddie” Flintoff in its ranks, ran amok and helped them win the series in the decider at Wankhede. I recall getting chastised and pilloried for not trying hard enough in a tricky run chase.

Andrew Flintoff's sets off on his iconic shirtless celebration (Photo credit: Sky Sports)

I must admit it was not a memorable series for yours truly. But I must clear the air by saying there was not enough support as none in the lower-order lasted long, withered by the English onslaught. One also cannot forget the NatWest final run chase engineered by Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif.

Another dig that is fresh in my memory features Sachin Tendulkar. His savage treatment of Andy Caddick in the World Cup encounter of 2003, was an object lesson in playing square of the wicket on bouncy pitches. Also, yesteryear watchers will waste no time in eulogising Krish Srikanth and his pyrotechnics versus the hapless Englishmen on very many occasions.

As the caravan goes to Orissa, notorious for batathons, one senses a quiet resignation from a bowler’s perspective and a feeling of deja vu looms in the air.

In a land of infinite God's, God must have been a batsman.