Twenty20 upgraded my cricket: Aditya Tare

Ranji Trophy-winning Mumbai captain Aditya Tare felt that the influx and growing popularity of Twenty20 cricket has led to diminishing quality of spinners in the longer format. He said that T20 cricket had both positives and negatives.

The 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman said here on Friday night: “There are a lot of negatives in T20. That is one of the major reasons why there are no quality spinners with the red ball. The moment you flight the ball in T20, the batsman hoists it beyond boundary. It is not possible to flight the ball in T20. When you are hit for runs, the captain stops you from bowling. With invention of T20, we are struggling in spin. In yesteryear, we had 2-3 quality spinners in the (Mumbai) squad. Now it has completely changed.”

Tare also said that the batting technique was also affected by T20. “With a lot of bottom-hand coming in, it won't get you runs in the four-day and five-day format,” Tare said. Tare was speaking at the Legends Club of the Cricket Club of India to mark the 101st birth anniversary of the legendary former India captain Vijay Hazare. 

Tare, who has been sold to Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2016, also said that there were a lot of positives from T20. “I am fortunate to play this game in this T20 generation. I can earn a living, I can lead a good life because of the money it gives. A lot of sponsors coming in has changed the entire mindset. It has brought in a lot of crowd ranging from a four-year old boy to 14-year-old girls, elderly men and women among others. It is a challenge to play T20 cricket now-a-days. It is not easy,” Tare said.

Tare, who was a Mumbai Indians player until last year, said playing the four-day cricket and Ranji Trophy meant the world to him. Sharing the MI dressing room with legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya and Shaun Pollock made him assess his standard.

“T20 has upgraded my cricket. Mumbai Indians gave me contract when I was 22 in 2010. I got to see and play with Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Shaun Pollock and a lot of great international cricketers. I got to know what standard I was at and what standard I needed to be to do something substantial in my career,” Tare, who led Mumbai to their 41st Ranji Trophy title last month end, said.

“IPL also changed my attitude and my work ethics. I had to give a lot of thought to physical fitness. It was not easy for a young boy like me going into the middle with 50,000 spectators watching you play and almost the entire country is watching you play. I learnt handling that pressure from IPL.”

Tare created the Ranji Trophy record for most dismissals in a season by a wicketkeeper with 48 victims in 2015-16. He has established himself as a regular wicketkeeper, even knocking on the doors of international cricket. But he was not the first choice wicket-keeper in age-group cricket, Ranji Trophy and IPL when he started.

Tare will also have to compete for the wicketkeeping slot with Naman Ojha for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He credited T20 cricket for making him the wicketkeeper that he is today. “I learnt a lot of things with Mumbai Indians. I was always the second wicketkeeper in MI. I lacked a lot of quality in wicketkeeping. I was fortunate in meeting Kiran More, who played a major role in my wicketkeeping.

“I used the opportunity of sitting on the bench to become a better wicketkeeper. Even in age-group cricket, I was a second wicketkeeper. After a lot of hard work, I got chance to play for Mumbai and I am proud in four seasons I played, we won Ranji Trophy twice. Winning Ranji Trophy is the highlight of my career,” Tare said.

A day after failing to clinch the first-class double when Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai lost to Rest of India in the Irani Cup, Tare faced some uneasy moments from die-hard Mumbai cricket fans. For a man who has just completed his fourth full first-class season, Tare handled those questions from elders deftly. “Why did you not enforce follow-on after being 297 up in the first innings?”, “Did you go on the defensive rather than attack?” “Why did your batsmen fall cheaply in the second innings?” were some of the questions directed at him.

He answered one by one patiently. “We fielded for 100 overs. The pitch had a lot of footmarks. They (Rest of India) had an off-spinner (Jayant Yadav) and left-arm medium-pacer (Jaydev Unadkat). We thought we’d pile up some more runs. Unfortunately we could not do it. To score 380 on the fifth day is not easy. It speaks a lot about the pitch and also our spinners. Our spinners (barring Iqbal Abdulla) was not up to the mark. There was none from the other end to exploit the footmarks,” was Tare’s reply to why the follow-on was not enforced.

“We could have been a little more attacking. In the second innings (when Rest chased 480 to win), we were defending, trying to save the game rather than go for a win,” Tare said.

An ardent fan of long-duration cricket, Tare said: “T20 is not my favourite format. It’s Ranji Trophy. I love watching Test cricket. Unfortunately, I am a part of this generation, I earn my living by playing T20. If cricket has to survive, Test cricket has to survive. The administrators have to look after Tests.”

Tare also praised his talented Mumbai team-mates Siddhesh Lad and Jay Bista, who scored his maiden first-class century in the Irani Cup. “I have spent a lot of time with Lad, His temperament is quite solid. He has got talent. With experience, he will play better cricket. The experience with Ponting and Tendulkar (at Mumbai Indians) will help him. It must have played a lot of role in his career so far.”

About Bista, he said: “He has to work a lot on his technique. He is quite aggressive in his mindset and may be modelling on Virender Sehwag. Perhaps it has got a lot to do with the way he was brought up. I think it is too early to judge him. He needs one or two good seasons before anyone judges him. That aggressive nature, perhaps, has got to do with watching a lot of cricket and not Test cricket.

Tare, who has played in 44 first-class matches and 62 T20s in his career since 2009-10 season, plays in an era where the protective equipment are the most advanced. Protective gear aplenty resulted in lack of technique.
“When cricket was played in the 1960s and 70s and before on uncovered, green pitches, I used to wonder what it was. I personally felt it was lot of guts and brilliant technique. Today's generation lack a lot of technique, especially with the short ball. Bowlers bowling at 130 kmph-135kmph hit the batsmen’s helmet as batsmen do not have the habit of watching the ball closely. When I play a bouncer, I do it instinctively. I don't care about getting hit as I have a helmet on,” he said.