Emotional after becoming parent, Rory Burns banks on 'psychology' to take on India

It’s often said that cricket is a game that is played more between two ears than on a pitch and for English opener Rory Burns who is short of match practice leading up to the first Test against India, it must convert into something substantive for his team in Chennai.

Burns missed the Test series against Sri Lanka and has arrived in India directly from England along with Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes and will have only six days time to prepare outdoors before he faces spinning balls for the first time in India in his career.

Burns, however, does not want to think too much about the aspects of the game that will not matter much once he sets his foot on the pitch. He is oozing with eagerness and hunger to bat in the middle having last played Test cricket in September last year, which he says must have made the world and all individuals humble in their approach.

"Psychology in cricket has always been an interest of mine, so I'm just dipping my toe in to see if I want to pursue it further. It helps to keep you fresh and get your mind away from cricket so that I don't just sit there and stew about the game and things going on in the world. Because if 2020 wasn't a humbler for people, then I don't know what will be,” Burns said in a virtual press conference from Chennai.

"But I can't wait to get going. I've literally got a bat in front of the mirror. I've not gone the full Steve Smith and whited up yet, but just having the bat in hand makes me hungry to get going. It's coming down alright, so hopefully, that translates.”

Lack of preparation for playing on Indian pitches can be asking some really tough questions but Burns said that players are being helpless about the scheduling amidst a raging global pandemic.

"It's obviously a challenge, but there's not much we can do about that schedule. If you waste time thinking about that, it's probably not going to do you any good."

Burns missed the series against Sri Lanka that turned out to be a momentous for his side due to the birth of his first child and although he conceded that it was a big decision to take time off from cricket, he looked at it with a ‘little perspective difference’ and said the reason could not have been more special than seeing his first child.

"It's a strange feeling, but if you're going to miss it for anything, the birth of your first child is one thing you would do it for. It's a pretty momentous occasion, isn't it? She just makes me emotional looking at her, so the fact I've got a little girl to go and play my cricket, for now, it's a nice little perspective difference,” Burns said.

Burns spoke very highly of skipper Joe Root who stood strongly against the spinning attack of Sri Lanka and the left-hander said that the English skipper always leads by an example and that along with Ben Stokes form a formidable combination to follow for other players playing around them.

"Joe obviously leads from the front. Some of the sessions I saw him bat, it was pretty incredible watching him go about his business. He's a leader by example, in terms of how he captains the team and how he wants people to go about their batting, so he's an easy bloke to follow. We're very fortunate that we've got Joe and Stokesy, people like that. You can't help but learn from them."

A lot was expected out of the spinning trio of England team that includes Moeen Ali, Dom Bess and Jack Leach but Burns warned against putting a lot of pressure on them going into the bg series. He pointed out that the nature of surfaces that will be on offer in India is still unknown and hence it would be unfair to jump the gun on the spinners as Indian team now has a potent pace attack that can also give way to pace-friendly surfaces in India.

Burns added that Leach and Bess have experience of touring India with England Lions and hence they could be well prepared to take on Indian batsmen but a lot of it will depend on nature of pitches and with one of the four Tests being a day-night affair, situations might be a little bit different than the one in Sri Lanka where they excelled as a bowling unit.

"Honestly, I don't think you need to put too much expectation on them. They will go about their business and they have bowled in Sri Lanka to get into the groove which is important and it's about switching their skills onto Indian surfaces. I think they have both been here before on different tours with the Indian Lions, so they have experience of playing here.”

"But you don't want to put too much expectation on them without knowing about the surfaces going to be and with Indian seam attack, it might be slightly seamer-friendly, there is a Day/Night Test, so yeah it could be a bit different," added Burns.

Burns also pointed to the threat of Jasprit Bumrah who will be playing his first Test in India after a more than two-year-long Test career. The left-hander said that it will be a difficult task to tackle the right armer given the point of his release and different angles of his bowling.

"He's quite a hard man to prepare for, isn't he? He's obviously unique in terms of how he comes and bowls. We'll just be working on those angles, try to work our way on seam and swing and those sort of things and try to replicate that as best as we can," said Burns.

Burns has been a formidable batsman for the England team over the last couple of years but he has been on and off from the game with injury ruling him out from some part of the Test series against South Africa in 2019-20 and now with Zak Crawley and Dominic Sibley batting in Sri Lanka the heat will be on Burns to seal his spot once for all. But he ducked the question of his return to the top of the order for the England team in the first Test starting February 05 in Chennai.

"I don't know, it's probably not a decision for me, is it? But I'm just looking forward to getting back and getting to work. But as I say, getting back in nets, me, Jofra (Archer) and (Ben) Stokes get a slight head start because of quarantine and those sort of things.

However, the challenge of opening an innings in sub-continent conditions has been a tough task and his teammates Sibley and Crawley have gone through tough times in Sri Lanka.

"I certainly think it (role of an opener) is getting more difficult .....besides in particular in extra-ordinary conditions, like say in Sri Lanka, you spend (time) from ball one -- some turn and some skid, it is actually must be the hardest place to bat there, as well is back home when it is seaming and swinging," Burns said.

"... So you know those numbers (average stand of 30 odd) suggest that it is a really tough place to bat, and like I say the role of Test opener might change and might be how deep you can get it, so the middle-order can cash in.”

Burns will be playing his first Test in India and he has the experience of playing in tough conditions and legacy to draw inspiration from before he takes his guard to challenge Indian spinners in their own backyard. Before him, openers such as Keaton Jennings, Haseeb Hameed and Sir Alastair Cook all have left long-lasting marks in their first outing on the Indian pitches.

Powered by Froala Editor

Powered by Froala Editor