The leg glance - why is it so out of fashion?

[gazza619]

I feel the leg glance is a shot which is very much underated. I was watching Pakistan bat today against SA and saw so many balls on middle and leg stump which was either played with a straight bat or flicked on the leg side. I could not figure out why do our batsmen not play the leg glance. I remember this shot used to be the out of jail shot (remember 1992 WC Miandad?). It was a very much run scoring stroke in the old days and was handy on tough pitches against good bowlers.

By no means it is hard to play. You just have to wait for the ball and make use of your wrists and the bat angle. You can rotate the strike by taking a quick single and even get a boundary if played fine. I have seen good batsmen also play it against balls landing on off stump.

I wonder do our batsmen even practice this in the nets?

 

[Rayyman]

Azhar Ali will tuk 98% of balls that can be leg glanced.

 

[gazza619]

Azhar Ali will tuk 98% of balls that can be leg glanced.

Not just Azhar, none of our batsmen play this rather elegant and effective shot.

 

[Justcrazy]

Mark waugh was expert at this shot.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Not only the leg glance, I feel that the ramp shot should be used more often.

How hard can it be to ramp a short pitched ball over the keepers head?

 

[ManFan]

This was the only shot I could make when I used to play cricket.

The best at the leg-glance was Mark Waugh and Viv Richards.

In the current era, Steve Smith used it to great effect when England were using full lengths against him in the 2017 Ashes.

 

[Rishta Aunty]

Great question! My theory is that it's a function of modern day T20-influenced techniques that are tuned towards maximizing the runs per ball. The glance will generally get you a run at most with the defensive ODI/T20 fields. In test matches, especially on wickets with bounce, the risk of gloving it through due to a rising delivery makes it a shot you can only play if you have a decent technique to back it up.

 

[Big Mac]

By no means it is hard to play. You just have to wait for the ball and make use of your wrists and the bat angle. You can rotate the strike by taking a quick single and even get a boundary if played fine. I have seen good batsmen also play it against balls landing on off stump.

You can't play it from middle or off stump on these pitches.

 

[Baigel]

Doesn't Shan play it? a bit squarer though

 

[Suleiman]

Watch the Indian innings vs Australia where they amassed 600+, good textbook display of this shot.

 

[rudra]

Ranjitsinh ji has to come back again.

 

[Bhaijaan]

The modern day batsman doesn’t want to risk getting LBW out. He’s taken that out of the equation. That’s the evolution from T20s.

Tendulkar was best at it by far. He could leg glance Akhtar and Lee for bullet 4s with ease.

 

[Robert]

Greg Chappell could play a shot off his hip to the same place. You don’t see that shot any more either.

 

[Mr.Q]

If the wicket is fast and the bounce is even, there’s no reason for them to not play that shot. Considering the bounce the SA bowlers were getting and the field placement, maybe they felt pull shot is a better option.