To become a good batsman
- By
Ashok Mankad
Soon after I packed up my bags and hung up my boots
in '86, I got into coaching. Your's Truly was the
first cricket consultant in India. And the late
Maharajah of Gwalior gave me my first assignment as
the coach of Madhya Pradesh for three years. Since
then, somewhere or the other I have been
endeavoring to share my experiences with young and
talented cricketers of the country. I must say it
has been a gratifying experience to give back to
the game what it gave me. At the outset, i must
point out that too many instructions to a student
does not help. A good coach must always remember to
encourage his positive aspects and ignore the
mistakes subtly so that his confidence levels don't
go down. The fundamental technique of batting can
be taught to a child from the age of 8/10 years. It
all begins with the correct stance.
STANCE
The feet should be spread about 6" apart, parallel
in the line of batting crease. Weight should be
equally distributed on both the feet so that he has
the choice of movement in going forward or
backward. In each case, his movement can be made
with the same degree of effort which will ensure
optimum stability. He must keep your hips and
shoulders in line. Stand as tall as possible, wait
for the ball and make sure that he keeps his head
very steady. His left shoulder should point towards
the bowler (for the right hander) and the knees
slightly bent. He should check his grip. His bat
should be grounded just behind the back foot and
the top hand should rest slightly on the front
batting pad. I attach importance to the stance
because a batsmen with defective footwork can never
become a good player. The stance also lets a
batsman know where his off stump is and helps him
to leave the balls outside the off stump. Maestro
Sunil Gavaskar was particularly good at this. When
he opened, Sunil would leave many deliveries, which
ordinary batsmen would poke at. I had the privilege
of playing with him often and derived a great
pleasure of watching the master at his best. The
secret to that art was his most comfortable stance.
GRIP
The batsman should wrap his thumbs and forefingers
around the handle to make two 'v' shapes. Back of
his top hand should always face the direction of
the ball. And both the hands should be in the
center i.e. the bottom hand should be 5 cms above
the blade. He must practice this grip until it
feels natural. For instance, Sachin Tendulkar's
grip is not something that I have been advocating.
But we all know how effective and successful he is.
He holds the bat at the bottom and manages it well.
Good luck to him. The batsman's top hand should be
firmer than the bottom hand. 80% of the task is
done by the top hand whilst playing with vertical
bat and the bottom hand comes in play whilst
playing horizontal strokes. Otherwise it plays a
supporting role.
BACK LIFT
The back lift is the first movement of any stroke.
For the correct back lift, the batsman should lift
his bat in line with stumps, rotating his left hand
so that the face of the blade opens and is towards
the Covers. His left shoulder and elbow should
point towards the ball. He should keep his eyes on
the ball and elbows clear from the body. He should
keep his feet balanced and still, throughout the
action. To make his back lift straight, he should
place two stumps on the ground at a distance of
15". While indoors, two stools can suffice. For
forward defence, he should stand two feet away and
not the usual 4 and half feet and for back-foot
strokes stand 4 feet away and execute the action
without touching the stumps behind. If this can be
achieved, he will be developing the correct
back-lift.