Oh! To watch a left-hander bat
Left-handed batsmen are considered to be very elegant and over the years lot of them have provided enormous pleasure to cricket fans all over the world
Woorkheri Raman
10-Dec-2001
Left-handed batsmen are considered to be very elegant and over the years
lot of them have provided enormous pleasure to cricket fans all over the
world. Some consider watching a left-handed batsman caress a ball to the
ropes the ultimate spectacle. I would not disagree with that sentiment
for obvious reasons.
David Gower © Stamp Publicity Ltd |
Any side would like to have a left-hander in its ranks and it would be a
bonus if he happens to perform a dual role for his side a la Adam
Gilchrist. A left-right combination at the crease upsets a lot of
bowlers and frustrates captains too. Incidentally, the highest rungetter in Test cricket happens to be a southpaw in Allan Border.
There is a concept that left-handers are at an advantage in relation to
right-handers. Like everything else being a left-hander has its
positives and negatives. One advantage is that the bowlers are used to
bowling to right-handers more often than not and hence may give scoring
opportunities off the pads.
Talking of the disadvantages, left-handers have to play at bowlers
bowling more on their blind side. It is something similar to a bowler
bowling from round the wicket to a right-hander. Not many right-handers
are comfortable when this ploy, starting right from the days of the
infamous Bodyline series, is employed.
There are some exciting left-handed batsmen in world cricket these days
and they play a very important and indispensable role for their
respective sides. Brian Lara, Adam Gilchrist and Sanath Jayasuriya, to
name a few, are batsmen who give nightmares to bowlers. All three of
them play their shots and try to dominate the attack most of the time. I
am not suggesting that they lack the discipline or the technique to
grind the attack. It is just that their extraordinary talent makes them
that much more positive and successful.
Gilchrist performs the role of an all-rounder for his side and thereby
gives enough options to his captain. His versatility is tremendous as he
can open the innings in the one-dayers and bat in the lower order in
Tests. Such is his capability that he has produced innumerable matchwinning knocks in both positions.
Brian Lara © CricInfo |
The one remarkable aspect about Lara is that once he gets going, he gets
big hundreds and double hundreds. He is the only batsman capable of
winning a Test match on his own as he did against the Australians a few
seasons ago. It is a pity that he is not getting enough support from his
colleagues in the top order.
Graham Thorpe © CricInfo |
Ganguly, at the moment, has to be decisive about how he is going to
tackle the short-pitched deliveries. He is in a dilemma as to whether to
play the pull shot or not. He is capable of playing that shot well and
has scored enough runs in international cricket to allow himself to be
bullied like a rookie.
Thorpe, for his part, has not done full justice to his talent. He will
be a key player for England on the turning tracks in India. Both Thorpe
and Ganguly have to get big scores - one has to do more for his side's
sake and the other for his own sake. Only time will tell how these
elegant left-handers handle the pressure but one thing is for sure -
left-handers can really frustrate their fans if they are not in their
best of form.