The new batting manual…
Tennis is , these days, a power game. Big serves, bigger groundstrokes. However, there was a time when Pistol Pete was playing when he used to make those impossible angles around the net (as opposed to over it) to take his opponents by surprise. You see that sometimes with Federer. It is rare, but it looks lovely when it comes off.
(As an aside, at 4:44 in the video above, what is that ball-boy thinking !)
T20 has brought a similar flavour to batting in cricket. The “Dilshan” is a new shot in T20 (video below). The beauty of the shot lies not just in its innovativeness and skill required for it, but also in the way it opens up the angles for the batsmen.
Too often T20 batting is seen in terms of hitting the ball over the fielders. The “Dilshan” is innovative in the sense that it brings forth the aspect of finding gaps through effective use of angles.
Just now, we saw Mitchell Johnson (2nd ODI Aus-Eng Natwest 2009) play a delicate glance where he picked up a low full toss outside off stump and delivered it over the square leg fielder inside the circle. The shot was played with a minimum backlift and an absolute lack of any follow through. He just let the ball hit the angled bat and allowed the ball to fly past his right shoulder - almost brushing his shirt sleeve.
For years, batsmen have been trying to create new angles - partly to overcome negative lines bowled, partly to overcome defensive field sets. We have the instance of Sachin, Laxman and Siddhu playing the inside-out shot against Shane Warne’s round-the-wicket line, we have the instance of Azhar flick a ball from outside off-stump right past mid-wicket.
In the age of the Yuvrajs and the Yusuf Pathans, it is nice to have someone like Dilshan who brings out the angles in lieu of the power to score runs.