{"id":3221,"date":"2016-03-09T13:45:43","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T08:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221"},"modified":"2016-03-09T13:45:43","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T08:15:43","slug":"cricket-india-england-front-foot-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3221","title":{"rendered":"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“M<\/span><\/p><\/div>

ove the back foot across, get the front foot in the line of the ball, and show the full face of the bat.\u201d <\/span><\/i>\n\nEarlier this month, while watching the <\/span>Indian<\/span><\/a> team crumble to an innings defeat in a Test match against England at Lords, the voice of Sharma Sir, the pot-bellied coach from the cricket camps I attended during childhood, echoed in my ears. In overcast conditions, our batsmen were struggling to negotiate with both seam and swing. Phenomenal stroke players, all of them, finding it difficult to settle in. Some pushed at deliveries they shouldn\u2019t have, some didn\u2019t move their feet, some didn\u2019t give themselves enough time before commiting and others just ended up playing extremely rash shots. Sharma Sir would have had a fit.<\/span>\n\nAs a 10-year-old at cricket coaching camp in the \u201990s, the front foot defence was the first thing we were taught. It was hammered into our minds. I was struggling with multiplication tables in class, but you could wake me up in the middle of the night and I could have blocked a delivery like <\/span>Rahul Dravid<\/span><\/a>. Sharma Sir, always the poet, called the sound of the ball hitting the middle of the bat the most beautiful sound in the world.<\/span>\n\nIn the era before <\/span>T20<\/span><\/a>, batting in the nets was all about being solid and compact with technique. You had to get your eye in by leaving some deliveries and getting your defensive shape right. A good left alone and strong forward defence would get a \u201cShabash!\u201d from the coach, and trying a cavalier aerial shot meant you ran the risk of being thrown out of the nets and being lectured in front of the entire group. Sharma Sir would keep a count of every ball that we\u2019d hit in the air, and after the net session, we had to run that many rounds of the ground as \u201cpunishment\u201d, with our pads on. Shahid Afridi would have ended up a marathoner if his coach had adopted the same measures.<\/span>\n\nIn those days, putting on a technically sound performance was seen as a virtue. To say times have changed, would be an understatement.<\/span>\n\nLike an <\/span>Ekta Kapoor <\/span><\/a>serial taking a 20-year leap, cricket has also vastly changed over the past two decades. The shorter formats of the game draw more money, crowds, and eyeballs, and that\u2019s impacted the way cricket is played, and coached as well. India\u2019s hapless batting performance at Lords made me wonder what had happened to the art of the defence, but a recent trip to my childhood cricket gymkhana answered my question. <\/span>\n\n

Aerial drives, hooks, pulls, reverse sweeps, charges down the pitch, the kids played them all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\nFor one, Sharma Sir is no longer around. The middle-aged <\/span>father<\/span><\/a> figure with a paunch who couldn\u2019t run to save his life has been replaced by a lanky fit man who could pass off as the Milind Soman of cricket. The gear, facilities, and infrastructure were drastically improved from what I remembered. But what really made me feel like I was in a <\/span>Black Mirror <\/span><\/i>episode was watching a young kid bat in the nets for 20 minutes. He didn\u2019t play a single defensive shot! Watching him, I realised, getting beaten in the air, edging a few, or hitting over the top aren\u2019t alarming signs anymore, they\u2019re signs you could be the next Chris Gayle or Brendon McCullum. <\/span>\n\nAerial drives, hooks, pulls, reverse sweeps, charges down the pitch, the kids played them all. Echoes of \u201cwatch out\u201d rang out across the ground every few seconds, warning everyone to protect their heads as balls kept flying off the willow. The stroke play on display by young kids was so impressive that I was embarrassed of how mediocre my skills were in that department. My whole <\/span>batting game<\/span><\/a> was premised around the feeble ability to block and defend \u2013 it made me feel like a dial-up connection in the world of 4G. <\/span>\n\nI went to the gymkhana restaurant, hoping to chase away my sorrow with dosas and vadas, and the TV was showing analysis of the ongoing India vs <\/span>England<\/span><\/a> Test series. Veteran players and expert analysts sat on panels and dissected the collapse of the Indian team, and one of the most glaring flaws they highlighted was the mentality of going after every delivery. <\/span>\n\nIn that moment, I saw the value for the staple left alone and forward defence that Sharma Sir had hyped all my childhood. Of letting a few deliveries go so you can make better judgements about the pace and movement of the wicket. Of defending with the whole <\/span>body<\/span><\/a> behind the line of the ball so you can let the bowler know you\u2019re on top. <\/span>\n\nIt may be the era of the switch-hit, and while today\u2019s batsmen are phenomenal hitters, maybe, just maybe, there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game. After all, Team India has proved it can tear apart a bowling lineup on a cement track passing off as a cricket pitch, but on a windy day, in overcast conditions, at the Mecca of <\/span>Cricket<\/span><\/a>, it was the humble front foot defence that could have been their salvation.<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It might be the most boring shot to watch in cricket, but maybe there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game, a fact Team India would do well to remember for the rest of their tour of England.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":3222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[394],"tags":[449,1269,19,6276,3911],"class_list":["post-3221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-cricket","tag-england","tag-india","tag-sport","tag-test-match"],"yoast_head":"\nIndia, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It might be the most boring shot to watch in cricket, but maybe there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game, a fact Team India would do well to remember for the rest of their tour of England.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It might be the most boring shot to watch in cricket, but maybe there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game, a fact Team India would do well to remember for the rest of their tour of England.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-09T08:15:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535102553.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hardik Rajgor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"It might be the most boring shot to watch in cricket, but maybe there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game, a fact Team India would do well to remember for the rest of their tour of England.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hardik Rajgor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hardik Rajgor\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec\"},\"headline\":\"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-09T08:15:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221\"},\"wordCount\":894,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1535102553.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cricket\",\"England\",\"India\",\"Sport\",\"Test Match\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221\",\"name\":\"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1535102553.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-09T08:15:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec\"},\"description\":\"It might be the most boring shot to watch in cricket, but maybe there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game, a fact Team India would do well to remember for the rest of their tour of England.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1535102553.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1535102553.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=3221#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec\",\"name\":\"Hardik Rajgor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hardik Rajgor\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=164\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence","description":"It might be the most boring shot to watch in cricket, but maybe there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game, a fact Team India would do well to remember for the rest of their tour of England.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence","og_description":"It might be the most boring shot to watch in cricket, but maybe there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game, a fact Team India would do well to remember for the rest of their tour of England.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-03-09T08:15:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535102553.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hardik Rajgor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence","twitter_description":"It might be the most boring shot to watch in cricket, but maybe there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game, a fact Team India would do well to remember for the rest of their tour of England.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hardik Rajgor","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221"},"author":{"name":"Hardik Rajgor","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec"},"headline":"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence","datePublished":"2016-03-09T08:15:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221"},"wordCount":894,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535102553.jpg","keywords":["cricket","England","India","Sport","Test Match"],"articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221","name":"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535102553.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-09T08:15:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec"},"description":"It might be the most boring shot to watch in cricket, but maybe there is still place for the front foot defence alongside some of the more eye-catching shots in the game, a fact Team India would do well to remember for the rest of their tour of England.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535102553.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535102553.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3221#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"India, on Your England Tour, Please Remember the Humble Front Foot Defence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec","name":"Hardik Rajgor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hardik Rajgor"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=164"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1535102553.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}