Underscoring the need for a robust defense, England batting great Kevin Pietersen has said his relentless defensive drills at the nets was the mantra to his success during the triumphant 2012-13 tour of India. Pietersen's 186 off 233 balls, in the second Test in Mumbai, is seen as one of the best performances by a foreign batter on a tour of India. The knock helped reverse the momentum after England were well beaten in the first Test, setting the tourists on the way to their first series win in India in 27 years. India have not lost a series at home since then. IND vs ENG 2024 Test Series: India Are Favourites but Don’t Write Off England’s Success With Bazball, Says Nasser Hussain.

"Getting runs is just going to be a fluke without a defence," the 43-year-old told Mike Atherton in a candid interview in The Times.

As England get ready for the upcoming five-match series, Pietersen's thoughts provide a clear view of the challenges and opportunities that await them in India. Pietersen recalled that the English batters would do shadow-batting "all the time".

"We used to do this drill all the time in India, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and me. Rooty is spectacular, as good as anyone. It's about learning not to commit yourself on to the front foot; about waiting to pick the length of the ball, so you are not playing only with your hands. To do that, the drill is to hit any ball, wherever it pitches, through the off side."

"I'd spend time in the nets just defending; it's actually not negative to defend. The ability to defend gives you the confidence to be able to attack. Defend; play straight lines, don't plant your front foot; wait for the ball; don't play just with your hands. If you can do that and you have the wherewithal to be able to commit to a solid defence and trust it, then it allows you to loosen up," he added.

Pietersen's innings stood out for his adept handling of ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's variations, particularly the 'doosra'. Given that Ashiwn is again going to figure in the scheme of things, Pietersen said the key is to pick up the style of his delivery.

"I picked Ashwin's 'doosra'. He used to load the ball at the back of his run-up, and I think he still does that now. He never ran up with the ball in his hand as an off spinner and changed it late for the 'doosra'; you can't do that. He loaded it up early.

"I was 100 per cent confident when he was going to bowl it and you'd see how many times I hit him over the off side. I'd see the 'doosra' at the back of his mark and, because he had a stacked leg-side field because the ball was turning so much, I'd think four or six."

For the left-arm finger spinners, Pietersen said: "I faced (Ravindra) Jadeja a lot. It's about technique. Jadeja is not Murali and he's not Shane Warne. He's a left-arm spinner that bowls it one way, and occasionally, gets the ball to slide on. If your technique is solid enough to play the ball that skids on, you should be fine.

"If your feet are good, and you are not planting your front foot and you are playing down the line of the ball, you should be fine. Just make sure you are not getting bowled or lbw. If you nick it to slip, no problem at all. If you get bowled or lbw that's a big issue. You have so much time to wait for the ball and then judge length or line and then move."

Root announced his arrival in Test cricket with a half-century in that series. Root, along with Jonny Bairstow and James Anderson, are the surviving members of the series that took place more than a decade ago. A big fan of Root, Pietersen said the English batter is reinventing himself and would be a key player for the visitors.

"He waits for the ball. He doesn't commit; he plays off the back foot. He is so, so brilliant and so decisive on whether to go forward or back. He is the most fabulous player. And he is becoming an even better player because his range of stroke is broadening. Reverse-sweeping seamers shows an extravagance that is coming from someone who was quite correct for such a long period of time. He's reinventing himself and becoming a more dangerous player."

So can England deliver again?

"This tour depends on the spinners. I thought Panesar and (Graeme) Swann won that series for us. We got runs of course. Cookie got plenty; I got plenty and I know you still have to get runs. But, by the third Test of that series in Kolkata, their spinners were trying to bowl quickly because they were trying to emulate our spinners. Jimmy was incredible as well. His skill and reverse swing. That was one of Jimmy's best tours I think. He was amazing in Australia, but seam bowling is fine there, the way he was able to move the ball and the wickets he took."

"So the question is, can England deliver with the spinners they have? That's going to be what dictates the series. It's going to spin. I actually played in Vizag the other day. It spun and bounced in a T20 game!" IND vs ENG 2024 Test Series: India’s Spinners Are Better Than England’s, Will Be Defining in the End; Says Michael Atherton.

"Given what happened in Cape Town the other week (India won on a pitch favourable to fast bowlers that was marked poor), they won't be shy in preparing something that spins and they will say, 'Let's see what you've got'."

The series begins with the Hyderabad Test on Thursday.

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