Tendulkar interprets length on his own terms

2nd ODI, India vs South Africa, Gwalior, 24 Feb 2010.
Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to reach 200 runs in ODI history, against a strong South African bowling attack. Some advanced footwork lessons from the masterclass...

It was a great day to win the toss and the pitch looked just perfect for batting as the ball came on to the bat at a comfortable height- not too low, not too high. This means that if you lunge on the front foot to a slightly short ball- no problem the ball would be within waist height. Comfortable enough to punch on the up- in front of point. If the ball was full and slowish, it would not trickle away, but would be still be knee height.

Tendulkar cashed in on this pitch by interpreting length to maximize productivity. Early on against the quick bowlers, he was quick on the front foot to balls just short, and willing to play in front of his body- on the offside gaps in front of square. When the slower bowlers bowled it fuller and little wider, he was well inside the crease, guiding the ball to wide third-man.

When the spinners bowled it flatter and fuller, he went back to get under the moderate bounce, and lofted a few over the bowler and to long off. Just perfect to buy more time to swing the bat. Then later in the innings when slower variations and fuller lengths are to be expected from the pace bowlers, he smacked them off the back foot over mid-wicket, from outside off.

So if we are used to going back to short balls and front to fuller ones, Tendulkar surely altered that, owning to the favorable conditions- of nice bounce (moderate) and nice pace (coming on the the bat) of the pitch.

Nice lessons in this exciting innings.
Saumilzx
Mumbai, India

Note: In the recent Tests, both Tendulkar and Amla played spinners on the back foot (or just standing), often to pitched up deliveries, owning to the slowness of the turn, waiting and watching the ball, off the pitch. In Kolkata (2nd test), a lot of South Africans fell on the front foot- lbw or caught. Duminy actually went back in the second innings after falling lbw to Harbhajan on the front foot in the first. But he chose the wrong ball to be on the backfoot, it was quicker and flatter. The trick is to know which ball to definitely smother by coming on to the front foot. Amla did that to perfection in the Tests.