Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar talk to Nasser Hussain about 'Bombay school of batting'

Mumbai has always been known as a hub for Indian batting. Former captains like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, who grew up practising in the city, went on to conquer the best of bowling attacks during their playing days. Apart from Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, Mumbai has also produced some of the greatest Indian batsmen of all time in the form of Vijay Merchant, Polly Umrigar and Dilip Vengsarkar. The legacy of the ‘Mumbai’s School of Batsmanship’ is now carried forward by prolific run-scorer Rohit Sharma, with promising young talent Prithvi Shaw also starting to unleash his potential at the international stage.  

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Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar decode Mumbai’s Art of Batsmanship

Former England captain Nasser Hussain recently took a stroll in the city as part of an exclusive web documentary by Sky Sports Cricket. In the video, he can be seen attending the Brabourne Cricket Stadium, also known as the Cricket Club of India. Nasser Hussain managed to talk about the ‘Mumbai’s School of Batsmanship’ extensively with Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and current Indian coach Ravi Shastri.

While speaking with Sunil Gavaskar, Nasser Hussain candidly asked the Indian legend about the players brought up in Mumbai system and why does the city have a history of creating great batsmen. The 125-Test veteran talked about the city’s history and said the players tend to seek inspiration from the cricketers who played before them. Sunil Gavaskar also said that all Mumbai batsmen ingrain a minimum price in their minds of no less than a hundred runs on their wicket.

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Nasser Hussain approached Sachin Tendulkar and asked the ‘Master Blaster’ to give his take on ‘Mumbai’s Mantra’ of batting long and scoring runs. Tendulkar said his thought process was more to follow his predecessor Sunil Gavaskar. The 200-Test veteran said that his coach Ramakant Achrekar used to tell him to watch Sunil Gavaskar’s batting because he held a solid front foot and back foot defence. Sachin Tendulkar stated that such techniques were “built-in their heads” since their early years itself. The 2011 World Cup winner revealed that Sunil Gavaskar has always been his batting hero.

Meanwhile, Team India Head Coach Ravi Shastri spoke about how aspiring Mumbai batsmen have to bat in different conditions, thus preparing themselves for excelling in future tours. Shastri also said once a youngster takes up cricket in the city, they are “thought well” by their coaches. He added that if a batsman scores 20 runs and then depart to a soft dismissal, he will end up on the receiving end of much criticism.

Throughout the documentary, Nasser Hussain also spoke with the likes of Vinod Kambli, Prithvi Shaw and popular cricket author and journalist Dr. Makarand Waingankar where he learned more about the history of Mumbai cricket.

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