āYou have got to be mental to be an opening batsmanā - is Graeme Smithās opening statement as we take a seat to talk about a batting position that has been synonymous to him throughout his cricketing career. Captain marvel apart, Smith was South Africaās opening mainstay across all formats of the game. Kindle his brain about the phenomenon called āopenersā and there is a plethora of information, instances and references. What is it about the openers that set them apart from the other batting positions in a line-up? What are the challenges that come along with it and how does a batsman develop a psyche to be a successful opener? Smith answers them all with a straight bat and takes BCCI.TV back to the era of the Gilchrists and Haydens and Sehwags.
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you get talking about opening batsmen?
I think opening the batting is one of the most challenging places to bat in the line-up, especially in places like South Africa where the conditions favour the newer and harder ball and there is a little bit of seam and bounce. It is probably a place where you need to be a bit mental to bat at because you are fancying up to the new ball in your whole career and whole life. It is such a pivotal and key position for your team. You have to sum up conditions, give them good starts and lay the platform for all the stroke-makers to come.
How does an opener mentally prepare himself for that role?
I think the key is to understand your strengths and weaknesses as a player. Obviously, there is the preparation where you think about the conditions you are going to be playing in, you have to be mentally clear. You think about the bowlers you are going to be up against and the conditions on offer. You make your batting plans accordingly. You go and train for that in the nets and this is when your practice sessions become very important. It is not always about hitting the ball from the middle of your bat; it is about mentally preparing to where you are going to play and who you are going to play against.
How does one pace an innings according to changing conditions and formats?
In ODI cricket, in South Africa, against the two new balls and in the first six overs you need to be a bit more circumspect because there might be some nip in the pitch or a bit more bounce. You have to be stronger on the off-stump line. In the subcontinent you see a lot of batsmen focusing on the leg side and generating pace through the off side against the new ball because it doesnāt generally have the bounce and pace. If anything, as the innings goes on it will take a bit more spin and get slower. So you might want to maximize those first 20 to 25 overs. In South Africa you can catch up at the end when the pitch gets probably better to bat on.
I was a player who was strong up the ground; I would like people to bowl at me and I would like to take away the risk of edging the ball to the slips because I knew I cut well. I wanted to leave the ball well upfront and have a Test cricket sort of mindset. The other thing you have to do as an opener is understand where you are playing in the world. If you come to the subcontinent, you have to understand that the new ball doesnāt do as much as it does in South Africa, Australia or in England. You can be a bit more aggressive upfront in the subcontinent, whereas abroad you might have to give yourself much more time to get yourself in.
How does a team zero in on an opening combination?
It is tough. You need to see what is available in terms of combination, what type of players you have, the style of players, and also where you are playing in the world. For example, we have seen Adam Gilchrist being hugely successful in one-day cricket at the top of the order and he would bat at No.7 in Test cricket. It is all about understanding that space. It helps if you can find a player like that. From the current lot, a Hashim Amla or a Rohit Sharma ā who I reckon are two outstanding openers in ODI cricket in the world ā when they get in, they are very difficult people to get out and will generally help their team to get a good score if they get a start. These are the type of players a bowling unit would want to dismiss quickly because they can take the game away from you. These batsmen allow players like AB de Villiers, JP Duminy or a David Miller to make an impact. They are the ones who set the stage for the batsmen to follow.
Do you think India has found a match-winning opener in Rohit Sharma?
In Indian conditions, it is hard to beat him. His record at home is superb. His challenge is always going to be when he goes abroad to Australia or South Africa to adapt well to the harder and newer ball there. But he has certainly got all the strokes. He is confident in himself and his own game has grown immensely. He has been a beautiful player to watch on this tour.
Both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma play themselves in once they settle. But do you think India is missing the batting madness that someone like Virender Sehwag brought at the top of the order?
It is very difficult to replace players like Virender Sehwag. He was a naturally attacking batsman and I think Rohit Sharma has shown that kind of flare in the series so far. It is all about combinations at the end of the day and how opening partners complement each other. Like, if I bat with Rohit Sharma, I know that he might be strong on the off side and I might be strong on the leg side. So the bowlers have to bowl two different channels, to a left-hand right-hand combination. It does get complicated for bowlers. It is all about complementing each other as partners and understanding each othersā strengths and weaknesses. It is about running well together, being able to absorb and transfer pressure on to the bowlers in the 10-15 over period. I think Rohit Sharma has got all the shots to be a Virender Sehwag. India would like Shikhar Dhawan to find form and if that is sorted, then you have a good combination going.
There is so much spoken about left-hand right-hand combinations. Does it make so much of a difference to have that kind of an opening combination? Why not have two left-handers or two right-handers opening the batting?
I think it is nice to have two different strengths in players. If both batsmen bat the same way, it is probably easier for the bowlers and the captains to set the field and create consistency. The thing about left-right combination is that it makes life a little more inconsistent for the bowler. Bowlers have to change how they think, their methods in the field, their fielding positions and the lines and lengths they bowl. It is about having a different combination that can bat well together.
Does it help to have two batsmen of contrasting batting styles opening the batting?
You just need to pick your two best players to do the job. On any given day you canāt predict how someone is going to play. There will be days when you walk out and you hit everything off the middle of your bat and you feel good. Then there will be days when you have to work hard and your partner would be hitting the ball off the middle of his bat. You play a lot of cricket in your 14-15-year long career and you are not going to feel perfect every day. Some days you just have to find a way. When you become a better player, on the days when you are not feeling too good, you still make something happen.
How do you accommodate players who are used to batting at the top for their respective state teams and then have to bat at a different position in the national team ā something that is happening in the Indian team?
That is the challenge. India would ideally want to pick their six best batsmen but roles in the one-day game change a lot. If you are batting in the middle-order, you can bat early or you can bat late depending on how the partnerships are going at the top of the order. Not everyone can do it. But I bet you not everyone wants to open the batting when they go to South Africa where there is more pace and bounce or in England where it is swinging around. On flat pitches, I am sure everyone wants to bat at the top of the order. I think Shikhar Dhawan is the one guy who does it consistently across all formats. He has struggled for form of late but he looks like Indiaās out and out opener.
Shikhar Dhawan opens in all formats, but has a different opening partner in Tests. Does it get difficult for a batsman to bat with different opening partners?
I think it is about forming that relationship and having that understanding with your partner. Having that ability and understanding is a unique thing. Openers are the only āpartnersā in the entire batting line-up. Everyone else is slotted at a batting position. You play such an important role. It works differently in Test match cricket, but in ODI cricket it is not as important to have that sort of camaraderie or emotion that you need in Test match cricket. You donāt need to be the best of friends or like family members, but you have to know what each other is about.
Sometimes when you are facing a fast bowler in Test match cricket and it is seaming around, your partner at the other end is going through the same thing. At that time you need to be able to connect and understand your partner. For example, if I know Hashim Amla wants a single to ease some pressure off him, I need to understand that fact and allow him to get through that tough phase. It is just about that understanding of the relationship in the middle that you two can take on that new ball and try and set your team a good score.
In a way, does the batsman at No.3 also play a huge role in complementing the openersā efforts?
I believe, No.1, 2 & 3 are the engine room of your team. If you have a solid partnership among your top three then it is very rare that the team wonāt go on and score well. The minute you are two or three wickets down, there is always a lot of pressure on your middle-order. Generally the batsmen in the middle-order are your natural stroke-makers. They have the ability to walk in, play their shots from the word go and if your top three can set that platform up for them then you are going to be a very difficult team to control.
Virat Kohli at Number 3 or Virat Kohli at number 4?
I think Virat Kohli is the best number three in the world at the moment. He should bat there and that is completely my perspective. It is such a key position in one-day cricket. You want to be giving him as much time as possible to get in and win games for India. Ajinkya Rahane is an outstanding player and he has shown that in his form. But I just think Virat is a different class player at the moment. Viratās form is very important for India. He is Indiaās top batsman. We have seen that India have a lot more success when he does well.
Pick your top two ODI openers in the world at the moment.
It is a tough one. Hashim Amla has got to be there; he performs in all sorts of conditions all around the world. I would just like him to play his natural game. He doesnāt need to be an AB or a Rohit Sharma because he scores naturally.
On current form, I would go with Rohit Sharma. He has been dynamic, has got two double hundreds and already has a 150 to his name in the series. He is a good player of spin and picks up fast bowling really well. You would want to go with someone like a David Warner as well but in ODI cricket he doesnāt seem to kick on. He gets a lot of starts but he seems to get caught up on how he should play when the field spreads.
That is the biggest challenge - to score when you are done with the power play. You have to have that ability to define the ones and twos, find the gaps and bat the time your team needs to and still have that ability to hit the boundary. He struggles with that a little bit, but at the moment Rohit and Amla are just a bit ahead of everybody else.
What made openers like Virender Sehwag and Adam Gilchrist so special?
They were just difficult guys to bowl to. If you think about Sehwag, he was really strong on the off-side and your margin for error was very less. He would hit deliveries on off-stump to backward point for four. He was a good player of spin and not afraid to take risks. Gilchrist was the same, but maybe with a different style of play. He would pick the ball well on the leg side, pull well and had a unique ability to hit the balls for fours and sixes. When such players get in and get going, they are just very tough people to control.
Today, if you had to walk to the crease with an opening partner, who would that be?
In my career I was lucky to have someone like a Herschelle Gibbs opening the batting with me. We had a great time together. I always loved watching Mathew Hayden bat and he was a very similar styled player to me. He was big and most opening batsmen in the world are not as tall as us with big chests who got out there and hit the ball nice and hard. I would like to bat with someone very different to me, maybe someone like a Sehwag. He was very strong on the off-side, maybe didnāt pull much but would play the cut and the upper cut. I was more of a strong puller and strong down the ground leg side. I think we would have been a difficult combination to bowl to.
