All eyes on big-hitting batsmen

Advent of T20 has led to the batsman learn new tricks to play innovative strokes

Hyderabad: The other day batting legend Sunil Gavaskar made an interesting observation during the inaugural lecture of the ML Jaisimha Foundation on the subject of expanding the boundary size further because of the emergence of hard-hitting batsmen and their powerful willows.

“Today the power hitting of the boys, slightly built, are hitting into the crowds. Therefore make it level for the bowlers and make the boundaries little further,” Gavaskar said.

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As yet another edition of the IPL gets underway from April 9, all attention will be on the big-hitters to showcase their innovative skills. From the likes of Virender Sehwag, Adam Gilchrist, Brendon McCullum, Andrew Symonds to the present generation of Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, AB de Villiers, David Warner, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes among others, the teams depend on these aggressive batsmen to rattle the bowlers. The West Indies giant Chris Gayle continues to be the King of big-hitters

The eye-hand coordination is very important for the batsmen to execute their plans. Then there is decisive footwork, shot selection and timing that could help these attacking batsmen to make an impact with their willows.

The advent of T20 has led to the batsman learn new tricks to play innovative strokes. They train hard and look powerful. Apart from the usual long hits in the V-region, there are some out-of-the box shots. There is Dilshan-scoop or reverse sweep or switch-hits.

A few of batsmen like Pant, Stokes, Buttler, De Villiers have mastered these innovative strokes. De Villiers is known as 360 degree batsman as he can hit the ball to any part of the boundary by using the depth of the crease.

Former Hyderabad opener Abdul Azeem, who was one of the attacking batsmen of the 80s and 90s, said the batsmen have become smart and innovative. “Look at Pant. He is adventurer with the bat. He can simply play any shot with his innovative skills. In the recent series against England, Pant could play the ball over the wicketkeeper for a boundary with ease. It is a very tricky and adventurous shot. It needs a good eye, hand and agility,’’ he said.

According to Azeem, modern willows do help the batsmen. “Yes, the modern bats do come in handy for the batsmen but at the same time it needs the skills to execute them perfectly,’’ he said.

Former Test left-arm spinner SL Venkatapathy Raju did agree that with the modern bats and the innovative skills of the batsmen has come as a challenge to the bowlers, particularly the spinners. ”With modern bats, even mish-hits fly to the boundary. Till the 80s, Australia had huge grounds and it was difficult to hit that big shots.

Even in last year at Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the grounds were big and it was difficult to hit sixes and fours. The batsmen had to run a lot. It could be different in India where the grounds are slightly smaller and one can see more sixes.

“There is no point in decreasing the boundary size. T20 is all about entertainment and the crowd watches for the batsmen to dominate the bowlers. It is a challenge for the bowlers.

Therefore the bowlers have to be street-smart say like Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The bowlers have come up with subtle variations, knuckle ball and the back-of-the length deliveries to outwit the batsmen,’’ he pointed out.

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