Bowl in pairs and with a plan: Tendulkar on tackling 'Bazball'

Bengaluru: Ahead of the five-Test series between England and India, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar opened up about topics ranging from challenges of batting in England to filling up the No. 4 spot, which he and later Virat Kohli had made their own, and from "Bazball" to dependance on Jasprit Bumrah. Excerpts.  

On England's aggressive style of batting or the so-called Bazball

This is the brand of cricket that they have decided to play and one should not be too overawed by how they are playing. They will play their brand of cricket and we need to play our brand of cricket, whatever brand suits us to our playing combination, and the way we want to approach this series, we should do that. With time, you know, a number of things are changing... The formats of the game have also become shorter. And that has encouraged players to play different brands of cricket. 

I remember in the year 2000, when Zimbabwe had come to India, and Andy Flower was playing reverse sweep against our spinners. He consistently reverse swept our spinners then and back in 2000, 25 years ago. And I said, at that time that, Andy is 8 to 10 years ahead of the rest of the guys as far as that shot is concerned. There'll come a period where this shot will become a normal thing in Test cricket. And today, if someone reverse sweeps a spinner, it's not considered out of the box shot. It's kind of a normal, I mean, people accept that now. So with time, you know, a number of things change. And that, I think the approach which has changed is mostly because of the change in format.

How to tackle this brand of batting?

So if someone starts attacking, then our bowling as a unit, we can't turn out as individuals. There has to be a team plan. And how could we bowl in pairs? How could we bowl in partnerships? And what is needed for that? When can we press the accelerator hard and go on attack? When do we need to defend? That as a team, one needs to decide. And I'm sure this will be discussed in the dressing room. But the secret to this is bowling in pairs and working as a team and not as individuals. 

On Gill occupying No. 4 position

Well, I think all positions are important. Playing for India is a huge honor. So whatever position you may bat, but that position is important. So contribution from even from number 10 and 11, whatever to the best of their capacity is important. So at number four also, it becomes equally important. The way I would look at it is, it is people to have put faith in him because they believe that he can do it. And if I was in his position, I would think exactly like, I'd say that I feel that people have faith in me. I've done well and people's expectations have risen because of that. And it's good because if you're walking out and nobody's expecting anything from you, one is at a wrong place. So for me, those expectations meant a lot because that gave me that fuel to go out and try harder. So I would put it that way, that number four, yes, is a responsibility, but that is what we've worked hard for, isn't it?

On the Indian team's transition

I think both the teams are experienced teams. England has a little more experience than us, but each team comes out of a transitional period. And as we can say, the process of churning, that has been going on for decades, and will continue to do so. New players will keep coming, some players will keep retiring. That has happened, but I feel all in all, if we look at the balance of our team, we have experience. It's not like we don't have any experience.

We have (Ravindra) Jadeja, I think he's the most experienced player. Then there's KL Rahul, (Jasprit) Bumrah, and then in the next category, there's Rishabh (Pant), Shubman (Gill), I might be missing out on a few names, (Mohammed) Siraj has also been playing for a while now, Shardul (Thakur) has also been playing. So all in all, there's a balance. It's been almost 5-6 years since Kuldeep (Yadav) has been here. So we have a balance. There are some new faces, some old faces.

On Bumrah's workload management

I would say that fast bowling is not easy, especially when there are injuries. So a bowler should take care of his body. And Bumrah is our strike bowler. He is the world's number one bowler. And I think using him properly, he himself knows how his body is reacting to stress levels. In a Test match, it's not that if you bowl one day, you don't have to bowl the next day. You have to bowl multiple spells every day. So it's very important for him to prepare his body. And Bumrah, I know him for many years. He is a very dedicated, disciplined athlete.

And he knows how important fitness is for him. So team management will sit with him and discuss how his body is reacting to stress levels. And then they will take a decision.

But when Bumrah is not in the team, I would say that the rest of the bowlers should plan together. When bowling units go in their own direction, it happens unintentionally.

When there is a big partnership going on in batting, and a lot of runs are happening fast, then it often happens that the bowler is not able to execute his plan. I would say that individuals should not go in their own directions. They should stay together. As a bowling unit, they should operate together. And when they plan together, it should go according to that planning. I know, not always do the plans work. Sometimes the plans have to change. But the plan in the dressing room should go according to that plan. 

On Gill's going about his captaincy

When you talk about captaincy, Shubman will have to play a big role. And whatever decisions he has to take, the planning in the dressing room is very important. What does the outside world say? Is it more attacking or defensive? Whatever their opinions are, let them be outside. Because only they can play, no one else can play. So their planning should be executed. Those who believe that it is in the interest of our country and team. So I would say that the outside world should be shut down. And the team and senior management should try to execute their plans.

On Pataudi legacy

"I think when the Pataudi trophy was retired, I was traveling, I think in Spain or somewhere, and I heard about it. The decision was taken by the ECB and the BCCI to retire that and start a new trophy altogether. The first time I got to know about it was some time last month... It's a nice recognition, I thought, of our (James Anderson and he) contributions to our respective nations in Test cricket. At the same time, I picked up the phone and my first phone call was to the Pataudi family.

"I spoke to them and also discussed keeping the legacy alive. It's important to not forget the (Pataudi family) contribution to Indian cricket and having inspired so many generations. I think it's important. And I said, I'll come back to you on this. And I spoke to (ICC president) Jay Shah, I spoke to the BCCI, ECB and shared some ideas. And we, over a period of time, a few phone calls, and we unanimously decided that the Pataudi Medal of Excellence should be awarded to the winning captain, because he was known for his leadership."