MUMBAI: He hasn’t played in India at the international level as yet, but
England
batsman
Zak Crawley, who slammed 267 against Pakistan in the third Test at Southampton, does owe India a small debt of gratitude for the way he tackled Pakistan leggie Yasir Shah during his epic knock.
Crawley’s footwork against Shah was decisive, and he swept and played him well off the backfoot too. “In 2017, Zak had come to India with his coach Rob Key as part of a Global
Cricket
School initiative to train himself for playing spin. For about eight days, he batted against 16 local spinners a day, first at the Parsee and Hindu Gymkhanas on the Marine Drive and then at the Dilip Vengsarkar academy in Pune,” GCS head honcho Sachin Bajaj told TOI.
England batsman Zak Crawley at the global cricket school during his visit to India in 2017.The 22-year-old’s ‘India connection’ was brought forth to the world on Day four of the third Test, when former England captain Naseer Hussain quizzed his co-commentator Key about how he helped Crawley improve his game against spin by taking him to India.
ALSO READ: Crawley looks like a class player, says Ganguly“You took him under your wings. You’ve not taken any credit for it. I’ll be fair to you. He told you: ‘Rob, I’m not getting into the England under-19s, I’m not getting anywhere. I need to work on my game.' You took him to India, and to Perth. Why did you do this? What was his mindset?” Hussain asked.
“If you want to learn how to play spin, India is the best place to do it. There’s a guy in India called Sachin Bajaj, whom a lot of people know in county cricket, who runs these sessions. You go to Mumbai, you’ve got loads and loads of net bowlers,” replied Key.
After his double hundred, Crawley himself acknowledged the contribution of these sessions in India in strengthening his game against spin.