Chopra: Why the seam position for a spinner matters

Tom Latham has shown two important facets of his batting against spin in this series. Since the ball was turning sharply in Kanpur, he swept quite regularly. Here, in Indore, he has used the same shot sparingly because the spin is manageable on this surface. He chose to play with a straight bat more often. He also used the depth of the crease nicely to punch the ball through the midwicket region with a straight bat. The only area where he has not been targeted as much is full and outside off by the spinners. He got out nicking to R Ashwin in the second innings of the Kolkata Test, and here also, he has driven through the off side only once. In fact, he has scored only one run through mid-off against spin in the entire series.

From the outside it felt that Ravindra Jadeja was bowling too full to Martin Guptill, for the ball rarely hit the top half of his bat. It is a new Test match on a different pitch and therefore the thought is plausible. But did Jadeja actually bowl too full? If you look closely at his pitch map to Guptill in this innings and compare it with his pitch map to how he bowled to the right-handed batsmen throughout the series, you will not find a huge difference. What made the difference in Indore was the length of Guptill's stride. He is a tall man and has used his height to good effect. In addition to that, Guptill has always put the bat ahead of the ball against Jadeja and that allowed him to negate the ones that came in straight after pitching.

Seam position is something you follow closely while playing the fast bowlers, for it is an indicator of where the ball is likely to go. The same is true for spinners who use the seam to extract drift in the air and response from the pitch; Ashwin is one from that clan. For the stock ball to a right-handed batsman, the seam points towards fine leg with the shine facing the fielders at covers. Since the ball is reverse-swinging, the shine would take the ball away from the batsman in the air and then spin into him after pitching. The one that is designed to go straight after pitching has the seam pointing towards square leg with the shine on the same side. What makes it tougher for batsmen on dusty pitches is that some balls land on the seam and turn, and some land on the leather and go straight.

The first two days in Indore emphasised the difficulty posed by the bouncers because the bounce and pace are not trustworthy. Ajinkya Rahane was in more than a spot of bother on many occasions. Incidentally, Indian fast bowlers did not try the bouncer throughout. Instead, they focused on keeping the ball fuller and targeted the pads. It must also be acknowledged that Indian seamers got far more reverse-swing than their counterparts.

Everyone grasses catches in the slips and therefore the ones who catch more than they drop are revered. Rahane is undoubtedly India's safest fielder in that region. What works for him? Well, the fundamentals of fielding in the slips are to distribute the weight equally on both feet and also keep them slightly inside, for that allows you to push out sideways. In addition to that, staying low in the stance is critical because going up is a lot easier than going down. Lastly, you must receive the ball and not snatch it. Some fielders like going towards the ball but fielders in the slips must allow the ball to come to them. Rahane ticks all these boxes.