5 things that a batsman can do to counter spinners on turning tracks

#1 Be patient but punish the bad balls

Put the bad balls away to the boundary

One of the endearing memories of South Africa's Test series against India aside from the spin-friendly nature of pitches which turned from day one was the tactics employed by the Proteas. After being comprehensively beaten by spin, they decided to be patient and block the living daylights out of the spinners going forward.

The biggest problem with that strategy was that while they had the batsmen were occupying the crease for extended periods of time, they also didn't score too many runs. And that meant that inevitably, without much on the board, they perished and succumbed to defeat. And there is when the No.1 rule of handling spinners comes into play, be patient but punish the bad balls.

On surfaces like the ones dished out to South Africa in 2015, it was only a matter of time before the batsmen got a ball that had their name written on it. When that is the case, being patient alone will do your cause no help. Aside from being patient, you also need to punish the short ball, the long hop or the full toss and score as well. After all, while Tests might be about battling time, at the end of the day, it is the runs you score or don't that will win you the game.