BATTING TECHNIQUES IN CRICKET
In cricket, batting is a combination of different techniques. For becoming a good batsman you should deeply understand and learn those basic techniques.
The one important piece of advice I wish to give you is that master the basic techniques especially if you are a beginner, then only you should adjust the techniques according to your personal preferences. You should also make sure that while batting on the pitch, everything comes naturally. Don't overthink and take decisions while batting on the ground. But when you are batting in the nets you should select shots consciously.
It is your personal choice whether to take decisions consciously. The advantage of having a natural touch in batting is that you will not be under pressure. The following are the techniques that you should master to become a better batsman:
1)GRIP
Developing your batting skill is like building a house, the base should be strong. You should not compromise on the quality of the base.
In batting, the basics start with how you grip the bat. You should first learn how to use the orthodox grip(also know as V-grip). Even though you can adjust your grip according to your batting style. Mastering the basic grip helps you a lot as a beginner because learning the basics will show you a well-defined way of doing each thing, which will help you to progress faster.
2)GUARD
The second most important technique to learn after learning how to grip a bat is, how to take a guard. Taking guard means marking the place where you stand on the pitch in relation to the stump.
For example, if you take an off-stump guard. It means that you should align the front foot of your shoes with the off stump.
Guard is taken to ensure that you are standing in the same position for all deliveries, in an over or in an innings. This will help you to understand the line of the ball and help you to decide whether to leave or play a ball.
If you are a beginner it is advisable to take the middle stump guard. It will help you to play shots on both sides of the ground easily. Later when you understand the game more deeply, you can change your guard according to your strategies.
3)STANCE
Stance is about how you stand on the pitch about the crease and how is your body while standing on the pitch.
The basic stance is to stand sideways with legs shoulder-width apart and When you stand your feet should be equally away from the crease line.
When you feel more confident about your batting you can have a wider or closer stance and you can either stand outside the crease or inside the crease or in any other way according to the situation.
4)FOCUS
After you have settled on the pitch with a perfect stance next technique is the focus.
There are mainly two types of batsmen the first type of batsman focus on the ball and watch its movements to take the decision. The other type of batsman watches both the ball and the bowler and tries to understand what type of bowl he is bowling to take a decision.
Both techniques have a lot of advantages. The first technique is more useful for beginners because over-analyzing things will confuse you as a batsman. It is advisable to use the second technique after you have mastered the basics of batting and when you start facing more skilled bowlers.
5)DECISION
The next step is to decide what shot to play. Before making this decision you must be knowing what shot should be played at different lines and lengths.
After you have understood what shot should be played at each line and length the next step is to practice each of those shots at nets. If you have mastered playing different shots at the nets then when you start playing a match the shot selection will become a more natural part of your game and you don't need to consciously select the shots that you need to play.
But some batsmen consciously choose every shot they play. But in my opinion, it is better to make shot selection a natural reaction of your body to a ball it will help you to have peace of mind while batting.
But it is important that while you practice batting you should consciously watch the ball and select the shot.
6)BACKLIFT
The next technique is the back lift. Generally when you backlift the bat to play a shot the face of the bat should be facing the first slip or second slip.
But when your batting started improving and improving you can adjust the backlift according to what shot you need to play.
If the face of your bat is facing the slips you can play most of the shots comfortably. An advantage of using this backlight is that you can change the shot you intend to play quickly.
7)FORWARD OR BACKWARD
There are two types of movement, you can make after a backlift. You can either make a front foot movement or a backfoot movement. A shot can be either played at the front foot or back foot. For eg: you can play front foot defense or back foot defense.
You can choose to play a shot on the front foot or back foot based on the bounce, length, and line of the ball. It is advisable to play a ball bouncing up to the thigh level on the front foot.
If a ball bounce above thigh level it should be played on the back foot. It is important to master front foot shots because they help to attack the ball easily.
8)RUNS
The next step is to play the shot and score runs. Taking runs can be either by scoring boundary or by running between the wickets. If you have played a shot through the gap or above the fielder it will reach the boundary.
If you have played a shot in a way that it reaches a fielder then the next step is to score runs by running between the wickets. While running between wickets following steps should be kept in mind :
1)listen to none striker if you have played a shot into the area between square leg fielder and point fielder because he will be having a better vision of the ball than you.
2)Watch the ball and communicate with the none striker.
3)Run faster between the wickets while playing limited-overs format and runs slower if you are only planning to take singles while playing test cricket. In test cricket taking quick singles shouldn't be your objective. In test take runs when you see an opportunity for easy singles but you can take a quick double or triple if the opportunity arises.
4)Judge correctly before taking runs, because avoiding wickets falling is more important.
9)LEAVE THE BALL
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