IND vs AUS: Handscomb recollects how chat with Rahane throughout IPL helped him fight spin

Australia’s middle-order batter Peter Handscomb has recalled how former India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane helped him fight spin bowling within the sub-continent.

During IPL 2016, Handscomb shared the dressing room with Rahane on the Rajasthan Royals, and the latter spoke about utilizing the toes and wrist to open up the leg facet whereas enjoying spinners.

“He was playing these shots off his back foot through midwicket, which I thought were ridiculous,” Handscomb advised  Sydney Morning Herald.

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“I was like, wow, I need someone to teach me that. So we spoke about getting the front leg out of the way and being able to manipulate the ball from there.

“That helps your back foot become a scoring zone, and then if they overpitch, you can hopefully score off the front foot as well. Then all their good balls, you find a way to defend.” After scoring an unbeaten 72 off 142 balls within the first innings, Handscomb, like lots of his teammates, received out for a duck whereas making an attempt a sweep shot within the second essay of the second Test in Delhi.

‘India outplayed me’

“India personally outplayed me in that situation,” he stated in Delhi. “They gave me my scoring gap but without the reward, so it was just going to be a single, but tempted me to hit the ball there.

“And I fell for that and tried to manipulate the ball there when, had that been my third ball of the first innings, I would have just tried to defend, because I was still trying to understand the pitch and what was going on.

“For me, it’s just about being stronger and starting again. I probably walked out there thinking ‘I’m still on 72 not out, I can just pick up where I left off’, and you can’t think like that.”

Handscomb feels excursions are vital to higher perceive the sub-continent circumstances.

“I’d have sessions where no matter what the bowler was bowling, I had to hit every ball on the leg side, and then the next day and every ball had to go on the off-side, and every ball had to be played off the back foot, or every ball off the front foot,” he stated.

“It was learning what I could and couldn’t do in subcontinent tours without repercussions. I get to try all this. It’s just so different to back home, where the bounce is key to playing spin. So tours are crucial.” Despite conceding the Border Gavskar Trophy after dropping the primary two Tests, Handscomb stated the Australian camp is constructive.

“The feeling around the group is one of trust in each other’s games, which is very hard to come by. We’ll definitely take the positives out of Delhi.

“We still had first innings lead, we’d done well there, we’d started well in the second innings, and then it all just happened really fast, and we didn’t stop it at any stage.

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“The challenge is if there’s a moment where we have lost two or three quick ones, it’s being able to stop the flow for a second and let us all just take a step back, have a breath and then continue on with the game, and hopefully stem the flow of wickets that way.” As an excellent participant of spin bowling, Handscomb was at all times in line to be part of the India tour. But the batter desires to be “on every Australian tour from now”.

“But I also understand I came into this tour because I was a good player of spin, and there’s batters who have done better in English conditions who could come into the fold.

“Those are the discussions we have, we’re all open and honest about it. I still want to be a part of it though, and I’ll be doing everything I can to stay in.”