BATTING

The Ideal Grip : Hands close together on the bat handle .Not too tight not too loose. Both hands close together and should be positioned in the centre of the bat handle. Both palms creating a "v" in straight line running down the centre line of the back of the bat. The bat grip is the first step towards batsmanship, obviously very important. A correct grip gives your batting the full flair and does not restrict your range of shots. The ideal grip prescribed above is a distinct advantage to have as a batsman, but do not make the mistake of forcing yourself into the correct grip.

Try it for a few days see how it goes .Discard it if you do not quite find it comfortable. Thats the key, comfort. You have to be comfortable with your grip. Its got to feel right. Remember what Dilip Vengsarkar has said in his tips. Its good to have the ideal grip but it does not guarantee success. Great batsmen are proof of that. All of them did not have the ideal grip.

A small piece of advice. Its always a good idea to keep the top hand tighter on the bat handle.

The Ideal Stance : Feet comfortably apart. Not too close or too wide. Keep the weight on the balls of your feet and not on the heels.Weight equally divided on both feet. Front shoulder pointing straight down the pitch ,in line with the stumps at the opposite end, that is always a good indicator. Knees slightly bent.Head still .Eyes steady and level. Bat grounded just around the toes of your back foot.

A good stance is a well balanced stance ! You may not fullfill all the requirements of the ideal stance mentioned above but if you feel nicely balanced and relaxed in your position to face the ball. That is your stance !! Greg Chappell, great batsman with a great balance once told me about a gentleman who taught him a few new things on balance but after he had retired ! "Oh ! I could have easily got a lot more runs in my career if I had met this man earlier." Thank god for that I can hear the bowlers saying. Thats how important balance in this sport is. Do not complicate things by worrying about each aspect of the stance. The idea is to be just well balanced. if you feel even slightly off balance, its not the stance for you.

Before the ball is delivered many young batsman commit the mistake of lifting the bat straight ,in stance. This is in an effort to keep the bat straight but this will unbalance you. Allow yourself to lift the bat ,in stance, from the direction of 3rd slip or gully as the bowler runs in . It helps greatly in the balance. But remember, when the bat comes down to meet the ball it must come down as straight as possible as shown in pic. This is vitally important to survive at the highest level.

So remember good balance, Bat feeling a part of yourself ,weight on the balls of the feet so you are quick to react. These are the things you concentrate on with your stance.

The Ideal Front Foot Defence : Front foot stretched out to the pitch of the ball. Back foot grounded( as seen with Sachin) Front knee bent, Bat slightly in front of the leading leg. Nice soft palms. Face of the bat straight, facing down the pitch. Head on top of the ball.

The most important thing to do is get as close to the pitch of the ball as possible. Front leg besides the pitch of the ball and not in line of the pitching of the ball. Bending of the front knee is vital helps get on top of the ball better. Position of the head extremely important get it on top of the ball and getting low on the ball is also a good idea. Dont push at the ball once you have decided to defend the ball .Keep your arms relaxed not too stiff and strong. Relax your palms. Get the ball dead ,close to you. That is good defence. Away from those close catchers.

The Ideal Back Foot Defence : Back foot well back into your stumps in line with the off stump. The front foot follows. Stay side on. Front elbow rises up in line with the ball. Bottom hand loose on the handle. Weight in front.
Very, very important to have a good back foot defence to survive at the international level where fast bowling rules. Once you see the ball short, important to rock back quickly close to the stumps, making full use of the ample space provided in the batting "box". dont stay on the heels. Get that left elbow high. And keep that head* in front. Dont push too much with bottom hand keep that hand soft and closely tucked to your body. A common weakness of many Indian batsman who tend to push out their bottom hand in defence much to the glee of the slip fielders. Get that back foot defence organised early in your career. Dont leave it for late it might be too late ! Sachin phenomenal with his stroke play has a tremendous defence as well.

Drives : Its an extension of a defensive shot. If you are in a position early you can play a forcing attacking shot from that position even to a good ball. This is the drive. With the drive, you get into a similar position of a defensive shot , but only this time you extend the bat play. You go through with the swing in the direction of the ball and follow through of the bat is in the direction of the shot.

OFF DRIVE

Played to a ball that is around the off stump. played in the region of mid-off..

COVER DRIVE

Drive played through extra cover region to a slightly wider delivery.

SQUARE DRIVE

Drive played squarer to a wider deliver on the off stump.

ON DRIVE

A rare shot these days played between mid on and mid wicket.
In case of a front foot drive Get besides the line of the ball, to the pitch of the ball . Get your head low and on top of the ball. This will get the weight forward. It will also get that power and letting the bat follow through, in the direction of the shot (beautifully done by anwar) will get you that extra run. 4 instead of a 3 ! Remember to keep that top hand firm on the handle. This will take care of the bottom hand dominating too much.

BACK FOOT DRIVES are in my eyes more difficult to play than front foot drives and more pleasing to watch. Need to have these shots in your armoury to be an attacking in top level cricket. Standing tall on the balls of your feet, head level and steady ,front elbow pulled skywards (see pic.) allows you to play a great drive of the back foot. One that will bring the crowd on their feet.

Square Cut : A horizontal bat shot. Once the ball is seen short and wide of the off stump. get that backfoot close to the stumps in line with the off stump.

Free your arms and get those wrists to close on top of the ball , face of the bat on top of the bounce of the ball . Keep that head steady.

Quickly transfer your weight on to the back foot but remember to keep that head on top of the ball. Do not drop your head back, you will lose control of the shot.

This a not so easy shot to control. Its a good idea to get tall on the balls of your feet again and try to get your eyes on top of the height of the ball.

Always advisable to play the square cut down. Important to get that back lift high initially once you see the ball short helps greatly in keeping the ball down. Use the bottom hand and wrist of the bottom hand more than the top hand. This is a bottom hand shot.

The Pull ( Played to a ball hort in length) : Again get that rear foot across to the off stump. Get outside the line of the ball. The front foot swings to the legside to open you up.

Swing the bat horizontally in front of the body. Face of the bat closing down on the ball. Full follow through of the bat.

Very important to quickly get that back foot across on the off stump you can even afford to go further outside the off stump.

Get that bat swing high and over the height of the ball and try to bury that ball into the ground. All this with keeping your head steady(Great position of taylors head in pic..).

This will get you to play a safe but a very effective pull shot.

The Sweep Shot : Front foot stretches outside the line of the ball.Back foot goes down parallel to the ground. High back lift with the bat coming horizontally and over the bouce of the ball. Follow through finishing over the leading shoulder.

A very effective and important shot against spinners recommended to be played with the spin. Its unique in a way that it is most ideally played against a good length ball. You can imagine what effect it must have on a bowler, that his best ball is swept for four !. Imporatnt to judge the length of the ball.

Avoid playing this shot to overpitched deliveries and short balls. Cover the stumps with your pads just in case you miss the delivery. Vital to have high back swing to get on yop of the bounce of the to avoid getting the leading edge it can be a very risky shot if not played well. Highly recommended for one day cricket.

The Lofted Shot -(An attacking shot played) : A potent weapon for a batsman to have. A bowler will always be a wary of a batsman who lofts well. Picking the length to loft is the crucial decicion a batsman needs to make.

1.Never attempt to loft an overpitched delivery.
2.Do not lift your head to try and scoop the ball. keep your head down and allow your arms instead of the whole body to get into the lofting act

A good indicator of a lofted shot executed well is, by the time you look up the ball should be well on its way.
Many batsmen make the mistake of trying to hit the ball too hard ,to get power. Keep your head still, arms going through ,with hands firm on the bat handle and a good follow through of the bat will ensure that the ball travels a long distance.


 

Running Between The Wickets : Cant stress enough on the importance of this area of the game. Not a strong area for the Indians, author included. A good team is a team that runs well between wickets. All great batsmen have been good runners between wickets.

Ideal habit to form is taking a start with weight forward as a non striker bat in your left hand if you are standing around the wicket and vice versa. As a non striker you take the initiative of calling for a run for everything that is in front of you. When the ball is hit behind you it is the strikers call. You will realise that you have a lot to do even when you are not facing the ball. Here is wher a lot of batsman make the mistake of relaxing and taking their mind of the game once they are off strike.Reason for a lot of run outs. Gifts for the opposition.

If you are the striker make it a habit to call loudly for a run. Its a good habit toform as you play higher level of cricket ti will get noisier in the stadium. "Yes" and "No" are the basic calls. Sometimes you could call "waiting" when you are waiting for the ball to pass a fielder. Avoid calls like "Go"which could be confused for "No". Another crucial part of running between wickets is grounding the bat in the crease when finishing or going for another run try and stretch as much as possible and slide that bat through and not plonk it inside . The idea is to get yourself to run as less a ground as possible to complete a run . Sandip Patil was a master of this Good start and a long stretch to finish a run . Never looked in desperate hurry to complete a run, but, always made that run. Excellent runner between wickets.

Save that extra second thats the idea. Remember one of the biggest enemies of batsman these days is the third umpire.