An important part of India’s away tours is, playing practice games. Before the IND vs ENG series started, there were two tour games, followed by an intra-squad match. And of course, that gives the chance to the players to get used to the conditions, the weather, and everything else.
Say no to televised practice matches
But then, there is a down side to it too. As was the case in the England practice games as well, those were televised. Now, that means the opposition is in a better position to deal with a certain player. Former India bowler R Ashwin raised the same concern recently, on his Youtube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’.
He went on to give his own example, and how he hated playing in these matches. Plus, there was scrutiny after that. “As a cricketer, I hated playing those games which were televised, and were not Test games. If I have to bowl with a different action, I’ll have to think at least 10 times; when I started bowling the carrom ball, it used to fall short.
No scrutiny needed
“So, which laboratory should I go to, and try it out? If these practice matches will be televised, I’ll have to fail in front of everyone, and then there is judgement on the basis of that as well,” he pointed out correctly.
He further explained, that the purpose of these matches is to try out something new, and experiment, but that is lost somewhere. “So, maybe Virat Kohli wants to bat a certain way, and he doesn’t want to be seen. What if, he wants to bat left-handed, or try out reverse sweep. You are constantly under the microscope, and that is the biggest problem with all these things. Indian cricket has different challenges. Even if it is closed for media, somehow even the scores get out from those.
“Practice games are there to try out, what the players want to, at their own pace, for experimentation. It is about trying something and testing the waters,” he concluded.
