‘Basics of cricket will never change’

Bighitting that causes a euphoric atmosphere at cricket grounds makes batting look easy Far from it Each of the willow wielders plying their trade in the Indian Premier League have worked hard on their craft to get where they are Indeed the art of batting is also entrenched in the most entertaining form of the gameHow is it done across all formats What are the scoring areas What are the pitfalls We thought of getting a reputed coach like Dinesh Nanavati a former Saurashtra batterwicketkeeper to address these issues that challenge young cricketersAlthough Nanavati turned up for Saurashtra he played all his cricket in Mumbaimdashfor State Bank of India on the interoffice circuit and Khar Gymkhana on the club sceneEdited excerpts from the midday Masterclass session held recently at the Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhanarsquos cricket facilityHow did you get into coachingDuring the last few years of my playing days many people advised me to start coaching but I resisted as I did not want to start something I didnrsquot know in totality Then an opportunity came my way in 199394 when the Mumbai Cricket Association started Level lsquoArsquo courses and among the faculty was Vasant Amladi a great coach I stood first in that course and thatrsquos how my coaching journey began In the 199495 season I was offered the job of coaching the Mumbai U19 teamAlso Read IPL 2024 Struggling RCB aims for seasons second win against inform RRThe coaching journey then took me to the NCA National Cricket Academy where I became a Level 2 coach and stood first across the country Later came Level 3 and I stood third in that examination My coaching journey is still continuing and Irsquom still learningDinesh Nanavati interacts with middayrsquos Group Sports Editor Clayton MurzelloThe game has obviously changed over the years but how has coaching changedThere are two thoughts in my mind The first is that me being an old timer 74 I feel all those things that Irsquove learnt and practised over the years still holds good But then there are new methods now Itrsquos mostly about powerhitting Everything is related to power and many people are practising this too They are getting physically ready they go to the gym and spend a lot of time there to become fit They also spend a lot of time in the nets to develop certain strokes So now though reverse sweeps are going for sixes the basics will never changeAnd what are these basicsThe basics are and will remain the same as they were 200 years ago Like the way you hold the bat The way you go forward the way you go backward or the way you hold the ball as a bowler Nobody holds the ball crossseam unless they want to bowl a bouncer But thatrsquos only when variations come into the picture Otherwise pure technique still holds its ground and will continue to do soDinesh Nanavati right Dinesh Nanavati shows the perfect technique to execute a driveDo you feel cricket has become a more attractive game now than it was in the 1960s and 70sIf you look at it in terms of hits to the boundary and over the boundary then yes But our recently concluded home Test series against England gave us a very good example of how cricket should be looked at The Indian team lost the opening Test at Hyderabad but still bounced back and won the series This type of cricket is still held in the highest esteem Test cricket is always going to be the pinnacle There is T20 and now even T10 has come about smiles but Test cricket is the real thing Everyone says that every top cricketer believes thatYou began in an era when you had to play the ball along the ground anything above the waist was taboo Tell us about thatWhen I take a class at NCA I often narrate an interesting story to my students I tell them that in my time in Sunil Gavaskarrsquos era and even before that if the first six batters hit the ball six inches above the ground they were not considered batters But now if the first six batters donrsquot hit the ball in the air they are not considered batters So this is the huge change Itrsquos a complete reversal of the batting mindset But thatrsquos okay times have changed Players have to live with this kind of batting But I still believe classical batting is along the ground Irsquom not saying that you donrsquot have to hit the ball in the air Even in Test matches redball cricket players do hit the ball in the air but not that frequently So according to me classical Test cricket is the biggest attraction You will be surprised to know that I rarely watch an IPL match and in the stadiumnever But I do watch Test matches because that is where as a player or a coach you get to learn so much Sometimes in a single session there are so many ups and downs that you feel you can learn everything about the game in that sessionYou talk about attackers of the ball In your time which players hit the ball in the airThe first name that comes to my mind is Sunil Gavaskarrsquos opening partner Ramesh Nagdev He was very attacking Then came Ramnath Parkar and a few others Itrsquos very difficult to give more names because you can count them on your fingertips since hitting in the air was not looked upon well in those days They were considered nonbatters and outcasts They would be told lsquoyou are not supposed to open You go at No 7 or 8 or whateverrsquoHow much of a difference does good equipment make nowadaysGood equipment makes a huge differencemdashthe quality of bats the bulge parts the edges Also the leather quality of pads and gloves especially wicketkeeping gloves The leather quality is so good that nowadays you can buy a pair of wicketkeeping gloves today and start playing tomorrow It fits that easy and snugly I used to be a wicketkeeper and in those days the wicketkeeping gloves would take two to three months to break I had to tie it with a string and put it under some heavy weight so that it would eventually take the shape of the hand It would take a few months for the gloves to take the shape of my hands Nowadays I see wicketkeepers walking between the overs with their fingers stretched out In our days wicketkeepers always walked around with cupped handsDinesh Nanavati solves cricketing problems lsquoPowerhitting does not mean blindhittingrsquoPranay KapadiaWhy is aligning of the feet so important when it comes to a batterrsquos stanceIf yoursquore feet are misaligned when you make your initial movement your shoulder goes too far wide towards the onside and this makes it difficult for your front foot to come to the off stump or near the line of the ball So you end up keeping your front foot around off and middle and when you try to play away from the body you edge the ball and get caught behind Even if you hit the ball properly it will only roll towards backward point The ball will never go where you want it to If feet are aligned it ensures lesser distance and makes it easier to go outside the off stump where most of the balls are going to comeShaun RodriguesIn T20s we batters have a tendency to hit the ball very hard due to which our eyesight vision is disturbed How does one deal with thisThis happens in T20 cricket and not in the longer version The idea is always to watch the ball till the end but since T20 is a shorter format if you are batting lower down the order and you have only around four or five overs left you donrsquot have time to get your eye in This results in premeditated shots or blind hitting which you should never do Ideally you should tell yourself lsquoOkay I have these many balls my role is this and I will try to play two balls quietly and then I will open uprsquo So you need to face those two balls properly get your eye in Then you can launch into whatever you want toYash JadhavBeing a wicketkeeper I find it difficult to take catches down the leg side How do I deal with thisThis could be a problem for most wicketkeepers but you can overcome this with quick footwork A good wicketkeeper must have quick footwork You can also try this training drill Basically a wicketkeeper finds it tougher to collect the ball on the leg side than on the off because there is a batter in between So you should place an obstacle in between to blind your view for a fraction of a second and then try to catch You could put a chair and ask someone to deliver the ball under it and then you move and try to collect the ball This drill will help you get better at catching on the leg sideAtharva MayureWhile playing the ondrive my head falls How can I avoid thisWhen you play an ondrive the ball is of a fullerlength somewhere around leg and middle So itrsquos a flick shot You should dip your shoulder immediately on seeing that the ball is fuller and then try and play the ball Sometimes the shoulder moves vertically upwards and hips move horizontally across and if this happens you end up playing across and you feel your head has fallen No the head doesnrsquot fall while playing the ondrive So you should drop the shoulder hit the ball straightSamyak GadhireBeing a lefthanded batter I find it difficult to face offspinners What are the areas where I can score runs against offiesThe balls going away are a problem for everyone You need to get as close to the ball as possible About which shots you can score off you cannot play drives once itrsquos turning So try and play with soft hands and wait to score off the loose balls The cut and pull against the short ball are scoring shots Also once an offie starts getting turn their tendency is to shift their line Here you have a chance Anything on the leg stump you can sweep Pratham MoreAs a leg spinner how do I set up a batsman for a dismissalWhen you are trying to setup a batter you cannot have five different balls You need to have a consistent line and length The most important thing for a spinner is to always keep the batter on the front foot Never allow him to go back and cut So keep making the batter play your consistent line and length and somewhere in the second or third bowl a googly Thatrsquos how you set up a batsmanPrasoon SinghAs an offspinner how do I read a batterrsquos mindItrsquos very difficult to read anyonersquos mind So as a bowler you have to control the controllables The batter is not in your control You need to rely on your technique your abilities your skillsets You need to observe the batterrsquos movements whether hersquos quick on the feet or whether he tends to hang back to play on the backfoot or if he sweeps more and then devise your planAditya GiriWhat should be the modern day approach to battingSince yoursquore playing in an era where itrsquos all about power thatrsquos how yoursquore approach should be But powerhitting doesnrsquot mean blind hitting If you have decided that Irsquom going to hit this bowler here here or here you should take your position accordingly before the ball is released And this depends on how you practise If you need a power game you must practise accordingly You must find an area where yoursquore strong or where you can convert those big shots Nowadays most people practise in the open ground You must know the angle at which the ball is being delivered and then try and select the areas where the ball is to be hit and practise accordingly