May be it is inappropriate at this time to
talk about correct batting technique and tight defense, when the whole world is
in T 20 mood.
I really wonder now, what a coach would
teach a school boy on how to play a good length ball. Is it going to be - stretch well forward,
with bat and pad close together, head bent, with a soft hand, block the ball so
that the ball drops dead in front of the bat.
Or, to the same delivery, play a ‘reverse
sweep’ over short third man? If you teach the defense, the boy is certain to
ask you that he watched his favorite player Warner playing a reverse sweep for
a good length delivery.
Well, this is going to be a big headache
for all coaches.
I think when we talk about correct
technique, we think of ‘test’ cricket in the first place. I feel to some extent
in the ODI limited over games perfect technique is required and it plays an
important role. There is nothing like watching the tussle between the ball and
the bat in a test cricket.
When we talk about top Indian batsmen,
though the statistics speak louder, they mean nothing to me. There are plenty
of differences in scoring runs against weak and tough opponents, playing in
slow wickets in India or in lively bouncy tracks in Australia, South Africa
West Indies or in seamy conditions like England, New Zealand etc.
There were many good batsmen in India, in
the pre-TV era - Merchant, Mankad, Hazare, Nayudu, Manjerakar, Umrigar, Borde,
Hanuman Singh and others, who played terrific innings for India, in India as
well as outside. Remember, those days,
the wickets were not covered and there was no protective gears which gives
security to the batsmen.
I am not going to discuss about pre-TV era,
as the readers wouldn’t have seen or heard about our ‘golden oldies’. Also, there were not video clippings of those
games. They may not even like it. But
let me tell you, some pre-TV era cricketers (prior to 1975) were technically
very sound and had more talent but less opportunity.
After 1975, India had very few batsmen with
perfect technique. Those who scored tons of runs with poor technique, do not
stay in the minds of cricket lovers, whereas G.R Vishwanath’s 97 not out against the hostile bowling attack
in 1975 at Chennai is still rated as one of the best innings played by an
Indian and people enjoy talking about that even now.
Today Virat Kolhi is doing well, as of now,
but it’s too early to consider him and other youngsters. They need to prove
their technique further.
Let us start with the darling of the Indian
crowd, the batsman who was feared by all the bowlers in the world – Virender
Sehwag. He is the only Indian cricketer who has scored triple hundred, not
once, but twice. He has scored lots of runs against all countries in all
venues. He is a fearless batsman who plays in his own way.
But, when you look at his technique, he is
a typical example for “how not to bat”. Absolutely terrible technique and the
less we discuss about it, is better. God only knows how he was able to score so
many test runs with that batting technique. He is what they say ‘hand – eye
coordination’ batsman. His idea is see the ball well and hit it. It is
surprising India has batsmen like Tendulkar and Dravid playing alongside Sehwag
and Dhoni.
Mohammad Azharuddin scored many runs, but
people never rated him as a top batsman.
He had too many flaws in his technique. He, like Laxman, was
predominantly an ‘on’ side wristy player but Laxman could drive on both
sides. Azhar’s grip was not perfect with
right hand dominating so much that he could never play a cut or square drive on
the off side. Besides, he was helpless when pitched short and people don’t want
to remember the way he handled bouncers. Critics used to brand him - very
strong below the waist!!
In 1989 in West Indies, his captain
Vengsarkar was very angry with him and openly commented for running away to the
leg side when the fast bowlers operated. Not that his captain was any better.
He was also a chicken when it came to short pitch deliveries. Dilip Vengsarkar’s failure rate was so high
in his initial stages, God only knows how he managed to play so many tests with
these drawbacks. In my opinion, both Azhar and Vengsarkar are not perfect
batsmen.
The next pair of players who come to my
mind are Mohinder Amarnath and Ganguly. Ganguly
was a suspect in the initial stages against deliveries aimed at his chest, but
I can certainly say that he improved his game well, countered all his
deficiency and when he retired, he was a complete batsman as good as any one.
Same goes with Jimmy Amarnath too. He was a fine player of both fast and spin
bowling. His problem was dilemma in hooking or ducking a bouncer. He was a
great hooker but the situation of the side wasn’t conducive to hook all
bouncers during his time. Many times he
got hit due to this indecisiveness and was branded otherwise. Both Amarnath and
Ganguly were great improvisers. The number of ‘come backs’ they made prove this
point.
Next in my list are GR VIswanath and
Laxman. Both are very talented, stylish, great caliber and on their day can win
the match for India. These two have good technique, but play too much on their
plus points. If Viswanath was a God on the ‘off side’, Laxman is on the ‘on
side’. They played some breath-taking shots and terrific innings for India,
leaving the opposition gasping. Their problem was inconsistency. When they were
going in great guns, they used to play some novel shots and come back to the
pavilion.
Now comes, the little master Sachin
Tendulkar. I have absolutely no doubt that this man has enormous talent, best
technique, perfect delivery judgement and is a complete batsman. You don’t find
any major flaws in his batting. He may not be as fluent as Ganguly on the ‘off
side’ or Laxman on the ‘on side’. But he is a versatile player and his stats
speak for him. There were occasions where we have seen him unable to leave the
ball and get in to trouble. But on the whole he is a top class batsman.
His problems are not in his technique. It
is his mind set, which lets him down most times. We have seen time and again,
Sachin attacking all the front line bowlers, but all of a sudden, goes in to
his shell, giving unwanted respect to ordinary bowlers and thereby loses his
wicket. He got out many times in his nineties defending unnecessarily, after a
fluent knock. At one point of his career, this problem became a big issue which
made people question his ability.
That leaves only two batsmen to discuss for
the top spot. Great Sunil Gavaskar and the Wall, Rahul Dravid. Both were
pillars for India. No amount of words would be enough to appreciate the
services rendered by these two for Indian cricket. They have played some epoch
making innings to save the side which I consider as more valuable than any
personal achievements.
If playing variety of great instinctive
shots is a talent, leaving those tempting deliveries aside is a greater
talent, especially when your side is in trouble. These two are experts in
that area and are world’s best. It is not an easy job. It needs tremendous
concentration and extraordinary ability. Batsmen with greater strokes
(Viswanath and Amarnath) failed in this aspect.
Gavaskar adjudged universally as world’s
best batsman was very good against fast as well as spin. The wickets were
lively and the bowlers were superior during his time. He negotiated all short
pitch deliveries with authority and he was a master batsman when it came to
facing spin bowling. The 96 in his last test against Pakistan at Bangalore on a
paddy field wicket was rated as the finest innings played under difficult
conditions.
Dravid, who is as good in leaving the ball,
played the fast bowling with authority. His on side and off side strokes were
flawless and equal to Sunny’s. But Dravid, in my opinion struggled a little bit
against left arm spin bowling. When you look at his dismissals, he was out,
caught at slips to left arm spinner more often.
Gavaskar had some problem with the slightly
over pitched deliveries. He was basically back foot player with excellent body
balance. Since he was short, he couldn’t reach well forward to kill the swing
and turn. For spinners, he always used his feet, walked out and met the ball.
Both these batsmen judged the short pitched delivery very well and they never
got hit in the head. They never used to duck either. Great batsmen do not duck,
they sway away. Both Sunny and Rahul were great hookers and never got out
hooking.
On a bouncy wicket, many times Gavaskar was
hit on the fingers because of his height problem. In this aspect Dravid scores
over Gavaskar. We have seen Dravid stretching well forward fearlessly to reach
for anything close and prevent it from swinging further.
Rahul Dravid is an excellent hooker of
bouncers and he always kept them down to the square leg umpire. But the
situation always prevented him from playing the hook shot. He is a terrific team man and has saved the
country from defeat many a time than anybody. He is undoubtedly the most likable person and
a man with great character and composure. He is soft in nature at the same time
determined and, in my opinion, the most
complete and the greatest cricketer India ever produced. He was the “protective
Wall” of the Indian cricket.
My Top Ten are:-
- Virender Sehwag
- Mohd Azharuddin
- Dilip Vengsarkar
- Sourav Ganguly
- Mohinder Amarnath
- V.V.S. Laxman
- G.R. Viswanath
- Sachin Tendulkar
- Sunil Gavaskar
- Rahul Dravid
Your comments are appreciated.
About the Author: Dr V. V. Giri is one
of the Midwest, USA’s most distinguished cricketers. He has been involved
in cricket writing for many years for various newspapers and web sites all over
the World. He has many fan followers for his in depth knowledge about cricket. He is currently the
President of Troy Cricket Club in MichCA. Dr. Giri has been playing for this
club for many years and has been performing creditably. He is also serving
MichCA as a selector, coach and umpire for many years. Dr. Giri is also a
currently playing member for the famous, Madras Cricket Club, Chennai, whenever
he visits Chennai.
Dr V. V. Giri enjoyed
a long career as one of the top players in Chennai’s highly competitive first
(senior) division of league cricket. He was in the state squad for a brief time
in spite of his busy Healthcare profession. An outstanding off-spinner and
a very successful opening batsman, he played not only throughout India, but
also in England (Essex league) and Australia (NSW league), and was a member of
the touring parties that played in Canada, USA, the Caribbean, and many
countries in Europe and the Far East Asia.
He was also a highly
successful cricket administrator, spending several years as the very effective
Cricket Secretary of the famous Madras Cricket Club, one of India’s oldest and
most respected clubs.
Moreover, in his native Chennai, Dr. Giri worked as a top-level cricket coach for many years. This included senior division league teams (SPIC, Madras Cricket Club, MAC Spin Foundation of Tamil Nadu). Several leading India Internationals (Robin Singh, Sadagopan Ramesh, Hemang Badani, Badrinath, Dinesh Kaarthik) are numbered among his former charges.
Dr Giri studied at
Madras Medical College and defended his Ph. D. in Pharmaceutical Technology in
USA. Pharmaceutical Research and Development has, like cricket, taken him
to many countries, and eventually brought him to the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, where he is into Clinical Research.
Dr. Giri
Vankeepuram V.
Clinical
Research, Internal Medicine, University of Michigan. USA.
e mails:- vvgiri9@yahoo.com;
giri@med.umich.edu
