India vs New Zealand 2016: 6 things the Kiwis need to fix for the second Test

#5 Dealing with Ashwin and Jadeja’s variations

Ashwin and Jadeja were the destructors-in-chief

If you stay back, he will turn it big, like the ball he bowled to get Williamson. If you go forward, he will bowl the slider that goes straight on. And then there is the menace of the carrom ball that he bowls sparingly but very effectively, the one he flicks to make the ball turn the other way. Ashwin’s bag full of variations and tricks have become deadlier ever since he refined his off-spin.

He turns the off-break now, uses a lot of his body and most importantly gets dip and drift, the sign of true class. It is not easy to deal with Ashwin. The biggest problem is reading him – he bowls all his three variations with no change in his action, something that was lauded by the commentators during the first Test. Picking turn off the pitch could be a problem especially after the third day.

However, New Zealand have to figure out a way to deal with him. Williamson and Latham were able to sweep him effectively from outside the off-stump, something that works well on the sub-continent, employed by many like Alastair Cook and Matthew Hayden to thwart the bowlers. Easier said than done.

Maybe, the batsmen need to take a leaf out of Santner’s book, who survived close to 30 overs in the fourth innings all by himself. He looked at ease too for the greater part of the innings. Maybe New Zealand needs to go the McCullum way, attack a little more than what they did in the first Test.

Jadeja too is a menace on turning tracks with his accuracy. The natural variation is what makes him difficult to deal with as some of his deliveries turn and some don’t. Maybe, New Zealand could benefit from not assuming that every ball is going to turn, given how many wickets they lost in the first Test to reasonably straight deliveries that didn’t do much off the pitch.