Pulling isn't our natural strength - Dhoni

[Sachinism]

I still think we can overcome this problem. Rohit showed with his shot selection how to do it. If you see the dismissal of Raina he tried to Hook/pull a ball which was going away from him at 150 km/hr. He should have let it go. If we get our shot selection right it wont be the end of Road for us so early. And obviously we must not chase over 160. So bowlers need to do a decent job too.

It can be overcome, but Indians naturally get on the front foot and on a pitch like this it just spells trouble. I just watched the highlights and it seemed to be a bit easier once the ball got softer, maybe if we play out the 1st few overs without losing many wickets, we can look to take extra risks after, especially if the boundaries aren't that long, some miss-hits will clear the boundary too

[Andy]

It can be overcome' date=' [b']but Indians naturally get on the front foot and on a pitch like this it just spells trouble. I just watched the highlights and it seemed to be a bit easier once the ball got softer, maybe if we play out the 1st few overs without losing many wickets, we can look to take extra risks after, especially if the boundaries aren't that long, some miss-hits will clear the boundary too

But even Ponting Pulls and Hooks of the Front foot many times. Is staying in Back Foot the only solution? I guess our reflexes are Late. We need quick reflex.

[vvvslaxman]

But even Ponting Pulls and Hooks of the Front foot many times. Is staying in Back Foot the only solution? I guess our reflexes are Late. We need quick reflex.

Watson infact advances down and pull. It is about picking the length early and getting into position. I have seen Sachin pulling on the front foot too. But he makes that shift real fast. When he was young he used to pull even good length deliveries. Good batsman does that. Picking the length very early. If they are late they make late adjustments. Bottomline is you should not look like a clown after beaten by a bouncer. Unfortunately some of our top order batsmen look like deer caught in the headlights after a bouncer. Yes you get comprehensively beaten. But don't let the opposition know.

[Andy]

Watson infact advances down and pull. It is about picking the length early and getting into position. I have seen Sachin pulling on the front foot too. But he makes that shift real fast. When he was young he used to pull even good length deliveries. Good batsman does that. Picking the length very early. If they are late they make late adjustments. Bottomline is you should not look like a clown after beaten by a bouncer. Unfortunately some of our top order batsmen look like deer caught in the headlights after a bouncer. Yes you get comprehensively beaten. But don't let the opposition know.

:agree:

[SJS50]

Pulling isn't our natural strength - Dhoni Who ever heard of more bullshit. Let me remind MSD. Dear Dhoni, Ever heard of this guy . . . or this one . . . or even this one . . . They are also brought up on Indian wickets. There is a method of playing short pitched quick stuff MSD. Its quite simple really (in as far as understanding it goes) - go back on to the stumps, do not take your eyes off the ball and then play (or leave if a shot is not plausible). . . . watch how close their right feet gets to the stumps particularly in the case of Sachin and Rahul. Now watch this . . . No its not the same picture. Its the same batsman though. Our very own - Yuvraj Singh. Every bowler in the world knows what happens to him when you bowl sudden fast bouncers at him. He has his first movement off the front foot and then, finding it fast and short, he just turns his face away from the ball and hopes for the best. He did not get out to a bouncer the other day but he exemplifies the problem . . . and he is the senior most in your squad. If he hasn't learnt it with ten years in the company of Dravid and Sachin . . . well . . . Then look at this. That shot got you a boundary. and the next one got you nothing . . . but the point is not these specific occasions (I do not know how quick the bowlers were and what the match situations but try this front foot attack on quick short stuff on helpful tracks and you are asking for trouble more often than not. This is what your boys need to understand. Not knowing how to pull is not an excuse or a justification as you seem to make it sound. Many batsmen have problems against the short pitched bowling but their are those who glare down the wicket at the bowler (and learn nothing) and those that go back to the basics and learn to become at least reasonable players of short stuff. You are lucky MSD, the pace stocks around the world are not what they were in the 70's and 80's. Let Sachin and Rahul retire and then try and imagine playing an attack consisting of the likes of Holding, Marshall, Garner, Roberts or Lillee and Thomson and then think . . .

[Nova]

SJS50, good post. Skills learnt from Test cricket can translate well to ODI & T20. The examples of cricketers you gave in the first half of your post are all fine test batsmen. Yuvraj overrated Singh is no where in that callibre.

[Sachinism]

Lets be fair to our players, these conditions are alien. They've been brought up on patta's I think a good way to overcome this would be to practice on concrete with a cricket ball

[SJS50]

Lets be fair to our players, these conditions are alien. They've been brought up on patta's I think a good way to overcome this would be to practice on concrete with a cricket ball

They are also brought up on Indian wickets.

Read my lips :-)

[Roshanrocks]

as usual... super post from SJS :hatsoff:

[THX_1138]

if you cant pull, you really cant call yourself a batsman... its one thing to not be able to score of the yorker, or the ball just outside the channel or the just short of length that gives little room... but not being able to pull gives the bowler such a massive advantage: all he must do is come in and bounce it short, end of. its a bit like saying i can do mathematics, but i m not sure about this algebra business... every batsman must be able to do three things: front and back foot defence, drive, and pull (or failing that, duck or weave)... the rest of the game can be easily acquired.

[Sachinism]

I still dont think it comes naturally to Indian players. Yes they may be able to play the shot, but it comes down to certain other factors like the wicket, the bowlers; these guys are playing T20 cricket on a very bouncy wicket with 90mph+ bowlers chasing a big score. In Test's they can leave most short deliveries, they'll sometimes anticipate the ball will be short and get in position earlier than usual, ready for the short ball

[thevortex]

Before we go overboard criticizing just the Indian team, lets think about how many other batting lineups (Australia's included) could have pulled bowlers of the pace and class of Nannes, Tait and Johnson? This is by no means an excuse for poor players of the short ball in the Indian team - the worst one possibly is Yousuf Pathan.

[WeStMiDz]

Yesterday was a case of GambhIr and Raina failing to control their ego. It was more disappointing to see it from Gambhir than anyone else as he is our experienced head at the top of the order. He wanted to stamp his authority on Australia despite trying the pull shot several times previously and being no where near it. As for Raina I said before the tournament he shouldn't bat 3 simply because he is a compulsive hooker despite being woeful at the shot. Gary Kirsten needs to get in his ear and tell him to cut this shot out of his game completely. But of course this will take a blow to his ego.

[vvvslaxman]

Before we go overboard criticizing just the Indian team, lets think about how many other batting lineups (Australia's included) could have pulled bowlers of the pace and class of Nannes, Tait and Johnson? This is by no means an excuse for poor players of the short ball in the Indian team - the worst one possibly is Yousuf Pathan.

All teams will have trouble pulling the ball when it comes at good pace on a fast track. But on a flat track fast bowlers are the ideal to pull.

[saneindian]

"If somebody bowls 150kph short stuff then you have to be really good at pulling which isn't our natural strength. Most players from India are very good at cutting the ball, but only a few are good pullers against the new ball. Sachin, VVS and Dravid three good players of the pull shot in last 20 years. What's wrong in Dhoni's statement? He isnt saying all our batters are crap at playing the pull shot, he says most of them aren't good at it and this is a fact.

[cowboysfan]

the problem is being accentuated by t20s and to some extent odis as teams have figured out that they can get most our batsmen out by bowling short.they cant leave the ball in t20s while they might get away with a dot ball in odis.

[achilles]

Sourav Ganguly wouldn't have said this.

[saneindian]

Sourav Ganguly wouldn't have said this.

No wonder his problems against short pitch bowling haunted him through his career. Never admitted that he had a problem against the short ball. Neverthless, admitting that a problem exists is the first and a major step towards finding a solution for that. Hopefully we will see some of the solutions in the next 2 matches.

[jhakati]

Sourav Ganguly wouldn't have said this.

this is a pathetic admission to make for an indian captain in public ganguly led a team of great batsmen who scored all over the world, so is dhoni saying his team is the indian team of the 90s which peed in their pants seeing phaaast bowlers

[Sachin_Rulez]

If a player from any other team gets out to short one, no one cares. As soon as an Indian batsman gets out to that, people starts noticing and overblows at the same time.