‘Bowled him’ hollers the commentator. Excluding a very small
percentage, most of the ‘bowled’ dismissals are because of lack or improper
footwork. Footwork plays as essential role in any batsman’s approach to
batting. It is of vital importance in countries like England, Australia, New
Zealand and South Africa. These are places where the ball swings in the air or
off the deck compared to the Indian sub continent or the Caribbean.
But in the Indian subcontinent or the Caribbean, if one
needs to play the spinners, he does need footwork. Therefore, without proper
footwork, it becomes almost very difficult to exhibit perfect technique.
Excepting a very few extraordinary players like Virender Sehwag, a batsman just cannot survive in the long run
without it.
All the outstanding batsmen of the game exhibit excellent
footwork. Different shots require different footwork. In case of a straight
drive, which Tendulkar is
undisputedly a master of; it needs a high elbow and full face of the bat coming
down with optimum power.
The Square cut
requires the batsman to go instantly to his back foot by judging the length of
the ball. He has to meet the ball right under his eyes, just a tad away from
his body and open the face of the bat as required to place it into the gap in
the offside field. Dravid was well
known for his square cuts.
Square Cut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tntwyd4HPhM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tntwyd4HPhM
Many play the Cover
Drive well. It requires the batsman to lean forward and present the full
face of the bat and place the ball through the offside field. The key here is
not to get over balanced leaning into the shot, yet driving it through the gap
between cover and extra cover. Here is a brilliant cover drive from Ian Bell.
The Pull and the Hook
are two shots which are often misconceived to be the same. During a Pull shot,
the batsman pulls a ball from his bodyline to the leg side, targeting the fence
around midwicket to square leg. Whereas, in a Hook, the batsman helps the ball
to the boundary anywhere between square leg and fine leg. The Hook is usually
played to a ball the keeps moving towards the leg side, short in length, rising
above the chest level.
Ponting was a
master of the pull and the hook shots. The batsman, as you can see in the following
videos has to rock back onto the back foot in very quick time and then play the
cross batted stroke. The Pull can also be played off the front foot, albeit
greater difficulty.
One another classical shot is the Leg Glance. It is usually perceived that the sub continental
players play the leg glance with style and elegance. The key to perfect
execution of this shot is to meet the ball under the eyes, roll the wrists and
not to over hit the ball, turning the face of the bat. The video tutorial is
self explanatory.
In addition to this, there are the Late Cuts, Sweeps, Reverse Sweeps, Paddle Sweep (by
Tendulkar), Switch hit for which
more presence of mind, rather than footwork is needed. There are few unplayable
deliveries. If you are a batsman, the best you can do except not facing the
ball is to miss it. The ball pitched on leg, swinging away to hit the top of
off is the most dreaded ball to face. Here is a couple from Dale Steyn, the most complete fast
bowler of the modern era.
In the first video, the reaction from Dravid is an absolute classic. He just turns back and walks off.
That is the respect, such a ball demands. Frankly, one cannot do much with such
a ball.
As I had already told you, Virender Sehwag is one batsman who would ask you ’footwork? What is
that?’ Because of his extra ordinary hand-eye co-ordination, he is able to play
balls even though he has almost zero footwork. Batsmen tend to be very cold
during the beginning of their innings without much footwork. Here is a video of
Sehwag displaying zero footwork. No
offense to the man, he is a brilliant player even without footwork.
Here is a classic example from the Master himself
Well, the next time some one gets bowled (not inside edged), just check out how they moved their foot. You might as well become the next commentator for Sky Sports.
No comments:
Post a Comment