Drills which players from India, Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand do for power hitting?

[Savak]

This is a sweet science. Yes power and ability to clear ropes is natural as well but watching the quality of shot making, stroke play from players from these countries. Watching the reverse flicks, the ability to hit full blooded 92 mph plus yorkers for sixes straight down the ground, by flicking the wrists via the helicopter shot, inside out over cover. These skills are horned and developed through plenty of practice in the nets and in the offseason.

England hired a baseball coach to improve their power hitting and look at the massive strides that their ODI and T-20 team is making now.

It was just incredible to see the likes of Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli hit our slower ball bouncers for sixes, fast bouncers for sixes. Our bowlers were bowling full yorkers at 140 km/hr and Yuvraj easily muscled it back past the bowler for 4. Wahab bowled a full blooded 92 mph delivery to Kohli who effortlessly played the Helicopter shot and deposited it to the stands for six. Hassan Ali bowled a yorker at 140 km/hr to Kohli who effortlessly hit it inside out for a huge six over cover.

My point is that these shots that Yuvraj, Kohli, Sharma or even Pandya played are not just natural. I bet my bottom dollar that they practice very hard for this in the nets and they are pressurized to practice this day in day out due to the IPL pressure to perform if they want to earn the big bucks. When you practice something religiously day in day out, it ultimately becomes so natural.

Another thing with these guys is that they dont let the bowler bowl one line, length to them, they don't sit back and wait for the bowler to bowl a bad ball, they improvise by coming down the track, they improvise by walking around the crease, they improvise by giving themselves some room. Bottom line if the bowler is doing something, they improvise and counter it with a shot.

If the bowler bowls a really good ball, they play it with soft hands and take a single. The batting philosophy is so beautiful, in a 6 ball over, if the bowler bowls 4 good deliveries, they will maneaver the ball to get a single and with the 2 really bad balls, they will whack it for 4 or 6. And this method gives them 8-10 runs per over on average.

Watching the Pakistani innings was so painful. We are so far behind in terms of our thinking, approach to the game. Just watching Shehzad, Azhar Ali, Hafeez was cringeworthy, if the likes of Kumar, Yadav, Pandya were sticking to tight line/length on a particular line, they were just content to block and block hoping that the bowler would bowl a bad delivery on a platter to them. There was no intent to improvise like walking down the track to disturb the bowlers line, giving themselves room to manufacture a shot.

My question is do our players even practice their power hitting skills in the nets or in the off season? There is not a single player in our team who i would back to hit the slower ball bouncers for sixes at will, there is not a single player in our team who i would back to smack a full blooded 140 km/hr yorker straight down the ground for 4 or over extra cover for 6, you can certainly forget about any player in our side playing the helicopter shot to a full blooded 92 mph yorker for six. To be honest how can you blame our bowlers like Wahab, Hassan Ali and co for leaking runs when our domestic batsmen are not good enough to challenge them with ruthless power hitting?

Do we even have the coaches at the NCA or in domestic Cricket who even understand how the modern game is played? Who are well versed with modern coaching drills that the international teams practice.

It's one thing for a youngster to be completely over awed by all this, but the likes of Azhar Ali, Shehzad, Hafeez and co have been around for almost a decade now, it is inexcusable for them not to work hard on this aspect of their games.

Our problems are not just poor captaincy or even the coach right now. The players are just not working hard enough behind the scenes.

 

[captain crook]

Do you think Shehzad, Hafeez, or Malik can't play them? Go and check out some of the old videos. What our players lack is the mental fortitude to execute them in the need of the hour.

 

[Savak]

Do you think Shehzad, Hafeez, or Malik can't play them? Go and check out some of the old videos. What our players lack is the mental fortitude to execute them in the need of the hour.

Nope, they can't. Our skill levels are just not good enough and i am not convinced that our players work hard behind the scenes in the camps or off season.

 

[captain crook]

Nope, they can't. Our skill levels are just not good enough and i am not convinced that our players work hard behind the scenes in the camps or off season.

Hafeez used to pay well. He's now close to 40 and has no skills left to tackle anything above 140. Malik is still good. It's a shame he was run out yesterday. Shehzad, well, let's not talk about this mental midget. Umar Akmal can hit some fabulous hits too. But somehow our guys can't replicate the hits consistently. We developed a minnow mentality.

 

[despondent_artist]

Do you think Shehzad, Hafeez, or Malik can't play them? Go and check out some of the old videos. What our players lack is the mental fortitude to execute them in the need of the hour.

Umm....sorry, where do you think the confidence & the 'metal fortitude' come from? It's only from practicing these shots for hours.

Also the other aspect of modern limited overs batting - ensuring that there are minimal wasted deliveries & the score board keeps ticking over - is also a result of practice BTW, guys like Kohli, Root, Smith, Williamson, Butler, Warner, Dhawan etc. aren't born with the ability to find gaps, they spend hours working on placement.

These guys are able to execute shots without hesitation and find gaps effortlessly only because they have done it so many times that these shots have probably become muscle memory for them (not sure if I've articulated that too well).

 

[Hamza_]

Drills can't make Azhar, Shehzad and Hafeez better. If it was so why did England drop Cook, Bell .etc They should've arranged drills for them.

 

[captain crook]

Drills can't make Azhar, Shehzad and Hafeez better. If it was so why did England drop Cook, Bell .etc They should've arranged drills for them.

Great point!

 

[Savak]

Drills can't make Azhar, Shehzad and Hafeez better. If it was so why did England drop Cook, Bell .etc They should've arranged drills for them.

My point was to raise the question whether the players work hard behind the scenes? Based on the evidence, i fear not. It's about setting standards and an example for younger players.

 

[Hamza_]

My point was to raise the question whether the players work hard behind the scenes? Based on the evidence, i fear not. It's about setting standards and an example for younger players.

They do work on that. But are just not capable enough.

 

[Savak]

They do work on that. But are just not capable enough.

I don't think they work as hard as the Indians, Australians, South Africans, New Zealand or English players.

 

[Indiafan]

Its called IPL

 

[Itachi]

I think PSL came way late. Other countries move ahead with much exposure. And pakistani players were left behind.

 

[Savak]

I think PSL came way late. Other countries move ahead with much exposure. And pakistani players were left behind.

It doesn't help that the PSL is played in UAE. UAE wickets are not like flat Indian batting wickets.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

It's not IPL. Yuvraj was hitting them cleaner and longer before IPL. Kohli does not hit like that consistently . That shot against Wahab notwithstanding. Heck past Pakistani players like Wasim/Razzaq/Moin used to clear boundaries even back then. The only team that can consistently clear tecropes from 1 to 7 i s England . Pakistani batsmen should bisect fields and run twos hard and get the fours etc. Cleaeing the ropes is not a deal breaker .

 

[Hamad_H]

This is India reaping the rewards of the IPL. Players like Jadeja, Pandya, Kohli etc. are have played their entire careers in the IPL and being around players like McCullum, AB and Warner will definitely teach you about power hitting and it is not just a technical skill to power hit but a mental and physical skill as well. Pakistan and England missed out on these benefits but England's domestic structure is good enough with foreign players in it for them to learn from and they reshuffled the squad. Even though we are banned from IPL, the only Pakistani who gets T20 contracts in Big Bash and Natwest T20 regularly is Shahid Afridi. (In fact, he doesn't even get picked for Big Bash) We can only get contracts in CPL, BD and the Afghani league when no other players from other countries play. PSL has found Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan who have already become key players so hopefully PSL can get us back to speed with the rest of the world.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Timing is what missing. I remember Ijaz Ahmed orchestrated a crazy run chase roughly 20 years back against India. Bats were inferior too. Ability to time the ball is completely missing. Rohits sixes are pure timing. Viru relied on bat speed.

 

[Itachi]

Timing is what missing. I remember Ijaz Ahmed orchestrated a crazy run chase roughly 20 years back against India. Bats were inferior too. Ability to time the ball is completely missing. Rohits sixes are pure timing. Viru relied on bat speed.

I remember that match. It was massacre of Indian bowling.

 

[Rotoman]

The fact that people think 'power hitting' is what's wrong with Pakistan's batting line up is the actual problem. Pakistan's game would improve by a mile when they can rotate the strike to a reasonable mastery and all the rest will come with it

 

[Savak]

The fact that people think 'power hitting' is what's wrong with Pakistan's batting line up is the actual problem. Pakistan's game would improve by a mile when they can rotate the strike to a reasonable mastery and all the rest will come with it

Power hitting is also a problem along with strike rotation. When you are chasing 10-12 runs per over then you need consistent big hits to do it and the Indian players can shift their games accordingly, they can rotate the strike and make sure there is not a single dot delivery in the early to middle overs and they can hit every ball for 4 or 6 in the final overs.

Pakistan has big problems in strike rotation, running b/w the wickets, improvised stroke play on a consistent basis and big hitting. We are still operating in the 90's as a batting unit.

 

[Mamoon]

On average, Pakistani batsmen hit a decent number of fours and sixes. The problem is the dot ball percentage, and strike rotation is a tougher skill than dispensing the ball to or over the rope. Even tail-enders can hit boundaries, but only quality batsmen can play the ball with soft hands and manipulate the field. It requires skill, awareness and fitness.

 

[Madplayer]

And also another question is why are the Pakistani batsmen so weak and fragile looking? The previous generation had taller and stronger batsmen but now we get thin as a stick batsmen.

I think a separate thread should be started for it. If anyone else doesnt start it, i will

 

[PAKNeedThinker]

yuvraj is not hitting these sixes from now he is hitting these from many years he hit these sixes on wasim akram also when there was no power hitting no ipl its 70% natural skills and 30% hard work

 

[Madplayer]

On average, Pakistani batsmen hit a decent number of fours and sixes. The problem is the dot ball percentage, and strike rotation is a tougher skill than dispensing the ball to or over the rope. Even tail-enders can hit boundaries, but only quality batsmen can play the ball with soft hands and manipulate the field. It requires skill, awareness and fitness.

Batsmanship in general is poor.

Rotating strike is a massive problem but power hitting is an equally big issue imo.

Anyone can hit the occasional 4 and 6 in the middle overs but Pakistani batsmen cant do it when its absolutely critically needed. These Pakistani batsmen would hardly ever be able to do what yuvraj, kohli and pandya did the other day in last 7-8 overs.

 

[Mamoon]

Batsmanship in general is poor.

Rotating strike is a massive problem but power hitting is an equally big issue imo.

Anyone can hit the occasional 4 and 6 in the middle overs but Pakistani batsmen cant do it when its absolutely critically needed. These Pakistani batsmen would hardly ever be able to do what yuvraj, kohli and pandya did the other day in last 7-8 overs.

Of course, but it is not a bigger issue than strike rotation. If we hit the same number of boundaries but reduce the dot ball count by 20-30, we will put more competitive totals on average. Malik is a weak hitter by international standards, but he has managed to maintain a 100+ SR in the last two years because of playing few dot ball on average.

 

[Speedster777]

Azhar, hafeez, shehzad are has beens with zero skills to adapt to modern cricket. Induct youngsters in the team. Fahim and Fakhar proved their power hitting but they were not included in the team because we have to accommodate TTFs.

 

[muqarrab]

Do you think Shehzad, Hafeez, or Malik can't play them? Go and check out some of the old videos. What our players lack is the mental fortitude to execute them in the need of the hour.

When were they playing that?

 

[Savak]

Pakistan Cricket faces fight to keep up with rest of the game

Pakistan's recent failure at the World T20 has raised question marks over the standard of the nation's training facilities for players in-between competition play and tours, as The Express Tribune investigates.

by Emmad Hameed

21st April 2016

Rapidly advancing techniques for practice and training have left Pakistan hanging onto the coat-tails of cricket’s other giants.

Factors such as the advent of the T20 format, ever improving fitness standards, bowling machines, better nutrition intake and drastic increase in player wages have all combined to give cricket a new, razor-sharp look.

Batsmen continue to explore new scoring avenues and balls once considered unhittable are often dispatched into the stands. Nimble-footed batsmen toy with even the most potent of bowlers and most of them hone their skills in training sessions with bowling machines and dedicated coaches.

In recent years, batsmen have added to their repertoire of shots, with AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Brendon McCullum in particular discovering new avenues of scoring.

But back home, cricketers are struggling to come to grips with modern day practices. Other than the inadequate National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore, there is no other facility for players to work on their game in improvised situations.

Pakistan’s leading first-class batsman Fawad Alam, with a scarcely believable average of 56.71, still has to arrange for balls and bowlers himself if he wants to practice in Karachi, that too without a bowling machine.

“I have to buy balls and arrange for net bowlers, who can at most bowl for 40-45 minutes before getting tired,” he said. “You have to call off your session after that.”

In the days leading up to the World T20 in India, T20I skipper Shahid Afridi had to move to Lahore to utilise NCA’s facilities. But while the NCA is equipped with modern facilities, the batsmen, including international veterans and global stars, have to arrange for net bowlers and balls themselves.

“If I want extra sessions, then I have to arrange for the bowlers and balls both,” revealed a senior Pakistan batsman. “If a batsman wants an additional training session, he has to hope that an NCA coach is willing to work with him. Coaches across the country have done very little for player development.”

Pakistan cricket and the crossroads that lasted six years

Karachi — Pakistan’s leading cricketing ‘nursery’ — and its cricket association, the Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), doesn’t have a single quality practice area; despite its officials claiming it is the biggest cricket association in Asia.

Afridi leads the chorus of Karachi-based cricketers demanding for an NCA-like academy in their city; but, like most pleas, this has fallen on deaf ears.

If the country’s largest and most populated city is ignored in such fashion, it doesn’t take long to guess the fate of smaller cities and towns.

Modern cricket is pushing the boundaries of players and coaches alike; talent alone is not enough to compete now, preparation with the right tools is an absolute must.

Australian great Mike Hussey is an example to follow for Pakistan. Once when a game was called off, he spent six hours batting in the nets with his coach and a bowling machine. Hussey’s mantra was simple, if he was supposed to spend long hours on the pitch, he needed to practice for long hours in the nets.

In a 79-match Test career, the man dubbed as Mr Cricket cracked no less than 19 centuries and had an average of 51.52, with countless hours in the nets providing rich dividends.

Hussey’s training regime greatly impressed former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif and he has studied the ‘Hussey training model’ closely.

“Remember how Hussey hit Saeed Ajmal in the [2010] WorldT20? During that last over in St Lucia, he hit his sixes in three different directions from balls pitched on virtually the same spot,” said Rashid.

“This was a result of various batting drills like hitting balls pitched on one particular spot to different parts of the field. Leading players place cones on the field and dissect the gap between them ball after ball.”

Rashid feels the current crop of Pakistan players are perhaps not working hard enough and while they might be constrained by the dearth of facilities, they still don’t have the passion that the players of yesteryear had.

“During our days we used to play up to 200 club matches a year; I remember I first practiced the sweep shot while playing a first-class match against KRL,” he said. “Later on I mastered the shot by playing it in pressure situations in club games. What set players of that generation apart from the current one is that there was a desire to learn and practice tirelessly.”

Rashid though agrees that modern practice facilities are a must if Pakistan are harbouring hopes of being consistent. “Bowling machines are a must and we need academies in all major centres across the country.

“The players who don’t have access to NCA have nowhere to go; they must be provided quality facilities for improvement. Players shouldn’t be worrying about buying balls and arranging for net bowlers.”

Link: http://sport360.com/article/cricket...ith-rest-of-the-game-after-world-t20-failure/

Comments: This article is slightly old but it explains perfectly well as to why Pakistan has fallen so far behind the rest of the world.

 

[Mainul]

I don't expect anything from current crop of players,nobody should.Another thrashing coming up tomorrow.I don't watch Pakistan play for years together,except against Bangladesh.Very sedate team,watching them bat is a very good sedative for everyone.Pakistan is a good test team in Asian conditions,did very well in England too.But their LOI team is a bakwas.

 

[Mainul]

It's a very good thread,but the people who matters ,the players, won't listen to these suggestions.They are ready to have a plate of kachchi biriyani,not for hard work.If i were selectors,i would have just kicked these useless hacks out of the team,not only mere dropped them.Investment of years on them is a total failure.I just want another thrashing in the hands of South African and Srilanka like the Indians did to them so that i don't have to see these names on scorecard,as i said i don't waste my time watching Pakistan play LOIs.