The former West Indies stalwart in an interview said Virat Kohli can come in at No.4, which will let India field a right-left opening pair.
When Brian Lara retired from international cricket in April 2007, T20 was in its infancy. We will never know how Lara, a ferociously attacking batter with a phenomenal appetite for runs, would have fared in the slam-bang format. So, what does the former Windies skipper think of the power and innovation batters are displaying in this IPL? In an interview with HT, Lara, who is a commentator for Star Sports at IPL 2024, speaks about T20’s evolution, the upcoming T20 World Cup and why Suryakumar Yadav should bat at No.3 for India in the marquee event.
Excerpts:
You retired 17 years ago. What do you make of how far the game has advanced, particularly batting in T20s?
The present-day players have had to develop more skillsets. With T20, you have got to be very innovative. We have seen it in the last 10 overs of a 50-over game back in the day where guys were trying things to get the run rate up. Now it has to start from the very beginning in T20s. You are looking at run rates of 10 and 12 losing games. Even 260 (RR 13) is losing games. So, you’ve got to be very innovative with your batting. The bowlers as well. Long ago, if you got a slower ball, it was such a surprise. I am almost sure that if some of the players had to do it tomorrow in a Test, they may not apply the same skills. They may apply different skills. We have to appreciate that the game has grown, and with it, the skillsets have grown.
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Is there some shot that amazes you, something you couldn’t have imagined being played in your time?
All the new shots! They have all these options which confuses the bowler. If the batter had one shot, then the bowler will know that he cannot pitch the ball up because he is going to be hit over mid-off. That the batter now has five different shots for one ball amazes me. All these new shots, watching them and seeing them pull it off so regularly. I promise you…I would have ramped the ball into my face (laughs).
Did you ever consider playing some of these shots?
I liked finding the gaps, so I liked scoring runs. But I did it the conventional way. I could hit a ball through mid-off and hit the same ball through backward point. A lot of players can do that. That was to the extent we could go back in my day. Viv Richards would take a ball outside off and hit it over square leg for six. Those were wow factors back then. But the players today have taken it to a different level.
T20 favours batters inherently, but is there a balance that needs to be maintained? Can watching too many sixes get boring?
Seeing a lot of sixes can become boring, but that is up to the bowler’s skill. Look at Bumrah…good bowlers would survive in this version of the game as well. I would like to see their skills improve. I would like to see them get it right a lot more. Sometimes you can tell that a bowler has given up. I would like to see them improve their skill as well as the batters are doing it.
India have fallen short in semi-finals and finals of recent ICC events. Is there something lacking?
I just believe that when you have big-name players, you throw planning out of the window. Because you believe that if everybody plays to their potential, we will win this thing. But when you are playing in World Cups, you need to have good tactical plans. You have to be able to sit everybody down, no matter how big a superstar they are, and show them how they fit into the team plan.
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What is your assessment of India’s T20 World Cup squad? There has been some debate about Virat Kohli’s approach and batting position.
I think it’s a good team. Kohli’s position should be No.4. Suryakumar Yadav is the star player and should be given the chance to bat at No.3 and win games for his team. Because in T20s, Nos.1,2 and 3 are the main men. They are the ones with the most amount of balls to put your team into a winning position. You want to get your best players in those positions as prominently as possible.
Do you not see Virat then as part of those best players?
Well, you want to have a left-right combination opening in T20s (Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma). The way I have seen Virat play recently, his strike rate is up there. But when you have someone who can totally take a bowling attack apart and demoralise them, you want to give that person the maximum opportunity. Back in the day, would you bat Viv Richards at No.5 or at No.3? So, I am not going to get into the argument of saying I don’t see Kohli in (the side). I just think Suryakumar is a batter who can win you a game on his own. That’s all I am going to say.
How will the Caribbean pitches play during the T20 World Cup?
My worry in the Caribbean is that we are not generally known to be having grassy pitches. How the wear and tear, the spikes and bowling marks are going to affect the team batting second remains to be seen. They will be hard and good to bat first up, but as the game goes on, you get a little bit of wear and tear.
Not a lot of India batters seem to have the range or ingenuity to be playing all around the ground. Is that a concern?
First of all, you don’t need much innovation in the first six overs. You play good cricketing shots and you can score 10-plus runs an over. When the field restrictions ease, yes you need a bit of innovation. You have (Rishabh) Pant, (Sanju) Samson and, of course, Suryakumar. With Kohli, Hardik (Pandya), (Shivam) Dube and (Ravindra) Jadeja, you have players who can give you the runs you want. They are a little thin on pace other than Bumrah, but it’s a good enough squad. India have found themselves in that dilemma that a lot of countries have in the past. You have the experienced players coming to an end. Do you stick with them or just put a fresh team out there? It’s a cycle.
You were with SRH for the last two seasons as batting coach and head coach. How has your experience been of getting back to commentary?
I am still learning the finer points of commentary. I am with guys who are doing it for 20-plus years. Sometimes, I am angry with myself when I make certain mistakes. But it’s still a learning experience for me.
IPL 2024
