Dubai: It was about two decades ago when former Australian batsman Dean Jones weathered a formidable Pakistan attack — made up of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmad and Tauseef Ahmad — to score centuries in both innings in the Adelaide Test in 1990.
Speaking to Gulf News during an exclusive interview in light of Younis Khan’s twin centuries in Dubai, Jones spoke about the qualities needed for a batsman to score centuries in both innings. “Fitness and form. One has to be really in good form. You have to play the quickies really well in the first innings and in the second innings, play the spinners equally well. You’ve got to be a player who can play both types of bowling really well,” said Jones, who scored 116 and an unbeaten 121 at Adelaide.
Asked to comment on Younis’ centuries when compared to others, Jones said: “He is a great player. Though he did not start well and looked average early, he did not panic because of the experience and set himself some time and played through. To make a hundred, you need to have a good defence and good offensive. Seventy per cent of your game is defence and Younis has got it, that is why his average is around 50. It is really funny he couldn’t get a century so far against Australia but got two in one game — so his achievement is huge.”
What qualities are needed to score heavily against Pakistan? “I scored those centuries against Wasim, Waqar and Mushy [Mushtaq] as the spinner. Getting those hundreds was one of the greatest things for me because both Wasim and Waqar were young. They test every facet of your game. You have to be very good with the bottom half of your body to play well against guys of that calibre,” he said.
Asked for his recipe to bat well in the sub-continent, Jones said: “You have to play the ball late. You need to practise on average pitches and sometimes, spin actually helps you make angles. The key to playing spinners is by watching the length. The length is different for a spinner and a quickie in Australia compared to here. You have to be on the lookout for a single, particularly against the spinners because they are working on you. If a spinner bowls four or five [dot] balls against you in a row, warning bells must go off because under pressure one of them is going to get you out.”
Citing examples of handling spinners, Jones said: “Misbah-Ul-Haq and Younis sweeps while Sarfraz [Ahmad] goes down the pitch. Everyone is different but they know how to do it and get that single.”
Jones, who hit a double century in the ‘tied’ Test against India at Chennai in 1986, has advice on how to sharpen one’s skills to play spin in the sub-continent. “Bat more with the pads in the nets and bat on very average or poor pitches,” he added.