Indian batsmen to switch to narrow stance for better spin tackling, says Sanjay Bangar

Former India coach Duncan Fletcher had prescribed a wider stance for the Indian batsmen notably being Ajinkya Rahane but a lot of them have gone back to a “narrower stance” in order to play spin better, revealed batting coach Sanjay Bangar on Saturday.

Bangar indicated that Moeen Ali’s performance during 2014 series in England was the start of the change.

Asked about the change from wider stance during Fletcher era, Bangar said: “A lot of batsmen have gone back to narrower stance purely because mobility is a crucial aspect in batsmanship. You need to be ready to adjust to the variations of the pitch including quicker pitches and against the bouncers. That is a crucial factor,” Bangar said at the end of the day’s play.

India created a world record posting 600 plus totals in three successive Tests and using feet against the spinners has been a key irrespective of whether the spinner is Moeen or Adil Rashid, Mitchell Santner or Ish Sodhi, Shakib or Mehedi Hasan Miraz.

“We being Indians, using feet has always been our strength. Going over the top and not being afraid lofting the spinners. We are always sending the message to spinners that we are coming at you. It has always been a strength of Indian batsmen over a number of years. All batsmen (with narrower stance) have been able to do that. We have started getting results with our approach in the way we wanted.”

“There was a phase in 2014, a lot was made after Moeen Ali got six wickets in a Test. A lot of questions were raised if Indians are not as good against spinners as they were in the earlier period, I don?t believe in that. There has been a lot of improvement in that aspect of batsmanship as well.”

Bangar has felt that this Indian team is self-motivated and his job is to mere provide the pointers.

“I think all the batsmen apply a lot of thought. They put in a lot of effort. They want to excel and they want to breach their own benchmark. They are in their quest for excellence.

Our job is to just give them some pointers so that they remain on the right track. All credit to batsman for the way they prepare. Because of their mindset they are able to transform their ability into performances.”