Sehwag's technique
I have already written two pieces in Cricinfo on his technique before. One 0n his ODI blues and the other on his short-ball woes. He has again changed his technique recently, takes a middle-stump guard now. As usual it is a fascinating topic.
Demons are gunning for Virender Sehwag. In South Africa, they fatally flirted with him outside the off stump and now, on his return, they are jumping at his throat. There are two questions around him; on technique and his position in the batting order. Here I will stick to the technique. Experts tried to lure him out of the fatal attraction by asking him to take a middle-stump guard. The logic was simple. Now he would be close to the line and hence doesn’t have to reach out for deliveries in the corridor of temptation. Simple and effective, you would think. However, one solution has reopened an old wound. The short-ball woes.
In the last ODI, Dilhara Fernando got the ball to burst off the pitch and made it rear at the throat and all Sehwag could offer was an ugly fend as a face-shield and was swallowed. Previously, he still used to have this problem but the bowlers had to take extra effort and aim to ping his body. Bouncers on middle stump or off would be slashed over slips as Sehwag would arch back and help it up and over. Now this middle stump guard has eased the bowler’s burden. The target has come closer and straighter, just bang it in short, on the stumps and pin him on the back foot. Demons move closer.
Also, since he doesn’t move his left foot across, in the line, he used to drill the fullish or inswinging deliveries honing in on the middle or off stump line. He used to stay beside the line of the ball rather than behind it. With this new guard, he will be cramped up when he goes for those smooth swings of the bat through the line of the ball as he might be mostly behind the line. So we might see him playing to the on side more than before. But with the old guard, and it has to be stressed in the recent period only, the problem outside off stump was causing a huge headache, especially when the new ball moved around a touch. So this move will help him on that front. It is going to be mighty interesting to watch how he goes about the task. Will he keep shifting his guard according to the bowlers he faces? Will he simply stick to one thing? It makes for compulsive TV.
Demons are gunning for Virender Sehwag. In South Africa, they fatally flirted with him outside the off stump and now, on his return, they are jumping at his throat. There are two questions around him; on technique and his position in the batting order. Here I will stick to the technique. Experts tried to lure him out of the fatal attraction by asking him to take a middle-stump guard. The logic was simple. Now he would be close to the line and hence doesn’t have to reach out for deliveries in the corridor of temptation. Simple and effective, you would think. However, one solution has reopened an old wound. The short-ball woes.
In the last ODI, Dilhara Fernando got the ball to burst off the pitch and made it rear at the throat and all Sehwag could offer was an ugly fend as a face-shield and was swallowed. Previously, he still used to have this problem but the bowlers had to take extra effort and aim to ping his body. Bouncers on middle stump or off would be slashed over slips as Sehwag would arch back and help it up and over. Now this middle stump guard has eased the bowler’s burden. The target has come closer and straighter, just bang it in short, on the stumps and pin him on the back foot. Demons move closer.
Also, since he doesn’t move his left foot across, in the line, he used to drill the fullish or inswinging deliveries honing in on the middle or off stump line. He used to stay beside the line of the ball rather than behind it. With this new guard, he will be cramped up when he goes for those smooth swings of the bat through the line of the ball as he might be mostly behind the line. So we might see him playing to the on side more than before. But with the old guard, and it has to be stressed in the recent period only, the problem outside off stump was causing a huge headache, especially when the new ball moved around a touch. So this move will help him on that front. It is going to be mighty interesting to watch how he goes about the task. Will he keep shifting his guard according to the bowlers he faces? Will he simply stick to one thing? It makes for compulsive TV.
posted by Sriram Veera at 3:13 AM
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