Legendary Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has recently pointed out a few issues with Prithvi Shaw’s batting technique that’s leading him to go through the tough phase of his premature career.
Shaw, who hailed as one of the brightest talents of Indian cricket and head coach Ravi Shastri had called him as a mixture of Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, and Brian Lara is badly struggling for runs.
The young right-hander rose to fame after leading India to the U19 World Cup triumph in 2018 and then had then a successful IPL campaign and later his domestic scores earned him an India call and he justified his sheer talent and flair with each opportunity at the highest level.
But, in recent times, Shaw has been going through a rough phase and even failed badly in the first Day-Night Test of the ongoing four-Test series against Australia in Adelaide, scoring 0 & 4 which raised questions about his place in playing XI.
Well, now Tendulkar has reacted to Shaw’s struggle, saying the Mumbai batsman’s legs and bat are reacting late to the ball and that opens up a gap between his bat and pad – which happens when too many things going on a batsman’s head or if he is expecting a short delivery.
In an exclusive interview with IANS, Tendulkar said: “Prithvi is a talented player but at this point of time I feel his hands are moving away from his body. So, whenever the ball comes back sharply off the seam there is a possibility that, considering how he has got out, bowlers would continue to hope that they have some chance there. His hands need to be closer to his body.”
One of the greatest batsmen of all-time further explained, “His back lift is going from almost fourth slip to gully before coming down -- it's making a full arc, instead of moving back and forth like a pendulum. If the bat comes to a fraction late then the ball will find the gap between the bat and pad. I also noticed, he was caught on the move and was a fraction late on the ball.”
Tendulkar signed off by saying, “I'd say if he starts preparing a slightly early to play the ball that can also help. Both innings his front foot hadn't landed when the ball passed him and that can happen to batters when they have too many things going on in their heads or they are expecting a short delivery.”
(IANS inputs)
