Sunil Gavaskar was one of the best players of the short ball in his days.
'Concussion' has been a talking point in cricket in the past few years because of the numerous batsmen getting hit on their heads.
In the ongoing tour of India to Australia, the home side has suffered from three players getting concussed in practice games for the Test series. Also, India's Ravindra Jadeja had to sit out after being hit on the head in the first T20I.
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, who was an excellent player of the short ball, has weighed in on the reasons for increased head injuries in the current era.
Gavaskar told Sony Sports Network, "It's more to do today with the fact that everybody has got this front press, where they are technically moving forward, which is a little bit difficult, which is the reason why on bouncy pitches you have batsmen struggling."
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"In Australia you want to ride the bounce, to get onto back foot so you are able to ride the bounce, which is not what a lot of people are doing today. They are so much onto their front foot, they are not able to transfer their weight and then get out of the way. As a batsman you tend to get a little bit locked," he added.
Gavaskar believes that the 'back-and-across' movement is more suitable in conditions offered by Australia and cited the examples of Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar who have played well in the country.
"See, Virat Kohli plays the bouncer so well. Why does he play the bouncer so well? Because he has got that back-and-across movement, so he is sort of waiting on the back foot for that short ball. Rahul Dravid, he used to wait on the back foot, back-and-across. Sachin Tendulkar had a minimal front press, not a big front press. Therefore, he was still balanced when he played the short ball," the 71-year-old said.
(With inputs from News 18)