| The Art of Batting - III |
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In the Late cut, the right foot should be moved
outside the off stump and the weight of the body
transferred onto it.
It is unsafe to try this stroke against fast
bowlers and off spinners, but against medium pace
or leg-break bowlers, there is a good chance of
reward.
In this shot, the wrist plays an important part,
but the ball's own momentum is the chief source of
speed. The stroke is a short and snappy one and
does not have a long swing of the bat.
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[ J ] THE SQUARE CUT |
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There are two square cuts - one played off the
front foot and the other off the back foot. In both
these strokes the ball must be short and wide of
the off stick.
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Rahul Dravid essays the back-foot square-cut |
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Square cut off the front foot:-
The left leg should be advanced forward and across
the wicket, so that it finishes with the toe
directed towards cover and the left leg carrying
the full weight. To make this shot, the ball should
be short-pitched and away from the off-stump. The
shoulder at the start of the swing should be
pointing towards mid-off so that the maximum power
can be put into the swing. The shoulders turn only
with the impetus of the hit, which should be made
with full force of the right hand, forearm and
shoulders. The ball should be hit down and not cut
into the air. The ball should go just backward of
cover.
Square cut off the back foot:-
This shot is more in play than the one off the
front foot as it gives more time to the batsman to
see the ball. This time, it is the right foot that
is thrown across and the weight is transferred to
the right leg. The knee should be flexed to
slightly assist - |
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balance. The most common fault that a batsman
makes while playing this shot is that he leans
towards the on-side, as a result of which the ball
flies and ends in the hands of the slips or gully.
It is better to be closer to the ball than too far
away.
Playing this stroke to off-spinner can be extremely
dangerous if the ball is turning.
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[ K ] FORWARD DRIVES |
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- Cover drive
- Off drive
- Straight drive
- On drive
- Lofted drive
A batsman will normally attempt to drive a ball
that is slightly over-pitched so that he may not
loft the ball. The left shoulder must lean forward.
The left hip too must go well forward as the weight
is transferred onto the front foot. The distance a
batsman needs to advance his left foot down the
pitch depends on the length of the ball and the
type of bowler.
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Inzamam-ul-Haq
plays the cover drive |
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For the
cover drive, the left toe should point towards
cover and then it would progressively point a
little more directly towards the bowler for the
other drives, round to mid-on. For instance, it
should point towards mid-off for the off-drive,
towards the bowler for the straight drive, and
towards mid-on for the on-drive.
The left leg must carry the weight of the body at
the moment of contact, but it should be comfortably
bent at the knees to maintain balance. In all
cases, the right heel should be lifted and the
right leg balanced on the toe, which is kept
clearly behind the popping crease. |
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The ball must be struck just before the bat becomes
perpendicular to the ground in order to keep it on
the ground. The lofted drive is used to either
upset a spin bowler or when one has to go for the
runs. However, this shot should be used with
discretion.
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[ I ] JUMPING OUT TO
DRIVE |
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When a slow bowler is operating and is giving the
ball a reasonable amount of air by tossing it up,
he is naturally doing this to try to get more turn
on the ball. The batsman's job is to counter this
idea and one of the best ways in which to do this
is to use the feet and go down the wicket to attack
the bowling, either hitting it on the half volley
or full toss to prevent the spin from taking
effect.
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