Indian batsmen must develop sweep and reverse sweep game

[Gollum]

For all formats. Historically our batters hardly employed these shots, and our ex-players like Sunny, Bedi, Prasanna have generally scoffed at such shot selection calling them acts of desperation. In fact there was an argument between Pras and Ian Chappell about the same where the Indian argued that only those not confident in their footwork, judgement of dip/length etc use these low margin shots. Maybe this is ingrained in our coaching culture from a young age, where kids are forced to play classical shots, show full face of the bat yada yada. 

 

But in modern day cricket are these low margin really? Takes out LBW with a giant stride since impact will be outside off or leg. Usually gaps are open in the target boundaries which are shorter, so many edges and badly timed shots land safely or even fetch 4s/6s. Tougher to catch/field in outfield or edge of circle cos of the heavy spin, small deflections practically impossible to hold on to for slip/keeper/leg slip. Only thing one has to roll the wrists but that is why they practice under supervision of so many coaches/experts/peers. Anyway all shots have risk element, even cover drive and leg glance. Great way to throw a bowler off rhythm since even the best balls can be dispatched. An easy way to rotate strike, toy with the field and put pressure on opponent fielders and captain. Force them to change tactics, which opens up other scoring opportunities. Get in the minds of bowlers who are forced to change line/length of attack. We have been at the receiving end so many times, Gooch swept us away in 1987 SF, Russel Arnold a couple of matches esp against Kumble, Andy Flower in early 2000s, Poms and some of the Kiwi ODI/T20 bats like Munro recently. A damn effective array of weapons and English batsmen have taken it to the next level. 

 

Last batsman who used both in abundance was Karun Nair during that amazing 300 in Chennai. Among present players KL has the ability and mindset to play both those shots, in fact there are multiple variations of sweep+reverse-sweep targeting 150-180 degrees of the playing field which aren't manned by many fielders. Rohit, Kohli, Dhawan, Shaw, Gill, Iyer, Pandya, Jaddu I don't think they have it in their arsenal. Pant can't say for sure, DK is good with both hence an asset in T20 cricket. Offies have enjoyed so much success against us recently since we are stuck in the crease, so many times we allow Lyon to get his rhythm, L&L at good length on 6th/7th stump where he targets bowlers' footmarks. Prodding against those deliveries will eventually result in bowled, caught behind/slip, bat/pad. Why not employ a few variations of sweeps? Same with Moeen Ali, remember Southampton 2018? Or against Santner in 2019 WC SF where we allowed him to go for just 7 runs in his first 6 overs!!!!

 

Do our batsmen apart from KL even incorporate this in training sessions? 

 

Started playing sweep and reverse-sweep from young age as straight boundaries at Lord's were long: Eoin Morgan

Edited September 12, 2020 by Gollum

[Vk1]

These shots have become mainstream now.. we are aways very behind in playing the modern game.. zero innovation.. 

[Ankit_sharma03]

KL Rahul

Karun nair 

 

i know these 2 do , they did it in chennai test vs england 

 

Dhawan has been working on it and switch hit 

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

On 7/31/2020 at 5:01 PM, Ankit_sharma03 said:

Will be adding players practice session videos prep for IPL.

 

 

dhawan looks to have added switch hit to his game , lets see does help his s.r 

 

dhawan has been working on switch hit , lets see if he has 2-3 yrs left in him 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Playing with england players in IPL will encourage youngsters to pick this from them

In next few years england players will be in big demand in IPL

 

Roy (was their in DC)

Malan 

Billings (was in csk till last yr)

Wood (was in CSK till last yr)

Woakes (pulled out this yr )

Even root 

 

i see all these players being regular from next year 

[Gollum]

Fab 5 members were quite good at using their feet, reading from bowler's hand, judging length early and going fully front or back. And they had the ability to rock back deep in the crease and punch good length balls against the spin through gaps. Still I think with more use of these 2 shots (Sachin/Dada were quite good and Viru had his famous slog sweep) they would have had even greater success esp against offies and SLA. 

 

Current players aren't that good against spin.  Least they could do is learn some new tricks, innovate. 

Edited September 12, 2020 by Gollum

[Gollum]

4 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

KL Rahul

Karun nair 

 

i know these 2 do , they did it in chennai test vs england 

 

Dhawan has been working on it and switch hit 

 

Yeah even I can name only these 2, and then maybe DK. Nair's 300 was a masterclass on how to play these 2 shots. And KL is good and improving as we saw in NZ. Check 5:11 in the video...reverse sweep six against Neesham (136 kph)

 

Switch hit should be learnt for white ball formats but IMO it isn't as imp as the other two. Moreover the cover boundary is usually the longest and there is almost always a fielder at sweeper cover. Low % shot, tougher to get 4s/6s. And you hardly cover 20-30 degrees on the field. More scope behind the square. 

[Straight Drive]

Sunny himself used to play sweep shots . He even played bankhanded  sweep on rare occasions. 

[Gollum]

Saha too is quite good with these 2 shots and when he is in, he uses them in plenty. Which means it isn't a question of ability, only intent. Our maharathis don't like to stretch themselves beyond their comfort zones it seems. They don't want to improve via innovation, that path is a no go if it results in a couple of setbacks in the short term. 

Edited September 12, 2020 by Gollum

[Vickydev]

Sarfraz is a fine sweeper. Also plays the ramp shots both ways against the quicks, so thats an added bonus.

Padikkal also looked good playing both conventional and reverse sweeps well in the SMA trophy iirc.

[Gollum]

4 minutes ago, Vickydev said:

Sarfraz is a fine sweeper. Also plays the ramp shots both ways against the quicks, so thats an added bonus.

Padikkal also looked good playing both conventional and reverse sweeps well in the SMA trophy iirc.

Agree with both names. Padikkal esp was excellent with his reverse sweep in SMA. 

[Ankit_sharma03]

2 hours ago, Gollum said:

Current players aren't that good against spin.  Least they could do is learn some new tricks, innovate. 

Rahul

Pandya 

Gill 

Pant 

iyer 

 

in LOI can destroy spin , which is why im excited for next 10 yrs of Indian batting in middle overs 

 

For future there are guys like padikkal, samad, sarfraz 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was surprised with gill Gill ......he looks to be terrific in middle overs 

 

 

[Stan AF]

 

 

Present Indian batsmen, improving against spin = classic seeman reaction.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Stan AF

[Suhaan]

We do start late but once our boys start doing it,they never stop

 

 

No....its not PandyaIm talking about

Im sure the next lot is ultra aggressive and very innovative,they will for sure do it... not expecting these innovative shots from Rohit,Kohli for their age it is quite difficult to make adjustments of that sort,besides they have the game to score ample runs with orthodox cricket

Rohit plays cut,pull with ease later in inni gs he's been seen playing scoops(very rare though,but he's done that in last few games),Kohli is old school traditional batsman, he's our mainstay so can spare him just to hold the line up,Pant,Pandya can play it you will see this in future

Edited September 12, 2020 by Suhaan

[Gollum]

Need specialist batting coaches from U-19 level, NCA to develop these 'extra skills'. Remember the time when ATG Aussies had an American baseball coach for specific catching/fielding drills? Innovation is the key. 

Edited September 12, 2020 by Gollum

[Ankit_sharma03]

7 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Need specialist batting coaches from U-19 level, NCA to develop these 'extra skills'.

yuvraj recently raised this point about vikram rathore that how is he suppose to help with t20 skills , he obv didnt mean to offend him as rathore is punjab senior and close person to him but he was absolutely right .

 

Gambhir raised a similar point 

Gambhir in favour of specialist T20 coaches

The cricketer- turned-politician said that a batting coach can be appointed exclusively for the shortest format of the game. “Probably, you can just have a different batting coach for T20s, just for that particular format. It is really not true that someone who hasn’t played international cricket or who hasn’t played enough cricket can’t become a successful coach,” Gambhir said on Star Sports’ show “Cricket Connected”.

 

“What ultimately a coach does in T20 format is frees your mindset, feeds your mindset and makes you hit those goals and those big shots,” he added. The World Cup-winning opener said the job of the batting coach in T20 cricket is not to teach how to hit shots.

 

“No one teaches you how to hit a lap shot or a reverse lap shot, no coach can do that. If someone is trying to do that to a player, he is harming him more than actually making him a better player.” However, Gambhir is of the opinion that being a successful player helps become a better selector.

 

“It is not important that you have played a lot of cricket for you to be a very successful coach. Probably, that is right for a selector but not for a coach.” 

 

https://www.dtnext.in/News/Sports/2020/05/20234550/1231287/Gambhir-in-favour-of-specialist-T20-coaches.vpf

7 minutes ago, Gollum said:

Remember the time when ATG Aussies had an American baseball coach for specific catching/fielding drills? Innovation is the key. 

If im not wrong ATG WI also hired a trainer to raise their fitness when it wasnt a trend 

 

 

[Vk1]

1 hour ago, Vickydev said:

Sarfraz is a fine sweeper. Also plays the ramp shots both ways against the quicks, so thats an added bonus.

Padikkal also looked good playing both conventional and reverse sweeps well in the SMA trophy iirc.

I thought it was the snoopy Sarfraz.. that guy probably learnt sweeping naturally

[cricketfan28]

Uthappa used to do this but never effectively.

[zen]

After Viv Richards, Sanath Jayasuriya, and ABDV, Pandya is driving new innovation in LOI batting:

 

 

 

Why place the ball for a single when you can place it for a 6

 

Pandya

[cricketfan28]

3 minutes ago, zen said:

After Viv Richards, Sanath Jayasuriya, and ABDV, Pandya is driving new innovation in LOI batting:

 

 

 

Why place the ball for a single when you can place it for a 6

 

Pandya

what about Dhoni and his helicopter?