Can’t play the short ball?

By CAM

It seems to have become common language among all cricket commentators that batsmen from the sub-continent can’t handle short-pitched, in-your-face deliveries. Is this seemingly conventional wisdom really the case? I thought that batsmen like Sehwag and Yuvraj can hit any ball to any corner of the ground regardless of the nature of the bowling? Are the likes of Pommie lacking subject matter for discussion and therefore have latched on to something that seems to fill their otherwise hollow statements.

Here is an interesting statement: “Now that Jayasuriya has been found out, they will know how to get rid of him”. Found out? What does that mean? After a batsman has scored more than 13000 ODI runs, you have only now found him out?? It is true that certain batsmen are not comfortable with the pull shot, but it is completely unfair to generalize across the board. Haven’t we seen Ricky Ponting or Graeme Smith get out by top-edging while attempting a pull to shoulder high delivery? Certainly Sachin or Mahela can pull a fast bouncer over long-leg better than any batsman outside the sub-continent!

When a batsman does get out to a short pitched delivery, it may be prudent to look at the specific case for what it is worth. May be it is a result terrible shot selection. May be it is simply fantastic bowling. Why not credit the bowling some before simply faulting the batsman. Is looking for some inability in a world-class batsman the only option? If you look at India’s loss against Australia at the ICC World Twenty20, the flurry of Indian wickets falling had more to do with discipline and bad shot selection than anything to do with batsman like Gambhir or Raina not being able to handle the short stuff. Granted, Tait and Nannes bowl at speeds faster than most and can trouble any batsman in the world, sensible judgment may have served the Indian batsman well on this occasion.

Many agree that the WACA in Perth is the fastest ground in the world. How about an explanation as to how and why India beat Australia in a test match at the WACA two years ago. Or one for how and why India won the ODI series during the last tour of Australia. Hmm, Interesting!!

It is time for Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan batsman to disprove this commonly accepted “truth”.