Still, he is very hysterical about the work he does on the field and that includes his chattering from behind the stumps. It is a one-handed six that has just caught the imagination of the people.
What seemed like a strange shot at the start of his career has now become his trademark. Two consecutive sixes off the ball of Hasan Ali in a throbbing Dubai International Stadium in India t20 world cup The opener is a case in point.
“I feel like I am in complete control when I am hitting sixes with one hand. It’s when I can’t really hit the pitch of the ball. But it is a shot that I believe a lot of people will start playing,” Rishabh would retort every time the shot was brought up during the conversation over the past four years.
It may come across as an involuntary response to a situation but there is a lot of method behind it. The shot has a strong technical base behind it. No wonder Kane Williamson also pulled out a similar shot against Pakistan on Tuesday night.
Rishabh Pant (Image Credit: ICC/Reuters)
TOI decodes the nuances that make this such an effective shot.
strong front
Former Delhi wicketkeeper Devendra Sharma, who has groomed Rishabh along with the revered coach Tarak Sinha In Sonnet Club, mentions that the confidence comes from the strength Rishabh has in his forearms. “He has always been a mighty kid. When he was 12, he was quite strong for his age. His forearms are very strong. Therefore, he always supports himself to clear the fence, even if He may not get the desired ball,” Devendra told TOI.
The effectiveness of the shot is such that it may seem that he has been playing it since childhood. But Devendra mentioned that he never had to use it during his junior cricket days. “The shot is effective only when the bowlers deceive it. In junior cricket, the level of bowling hardly bothered him. Rishabh had enough time to convert any good ball and hit them for sixes. As you move up the ranks, the quality of bowling improves and with that you need to develop as a batsman.
Rishabh Pant (Image Credit: ICC/Reuters)
firm top hand
There is a theory that the bottom hand of every hard hitting batter is on the handle of the bat which dominates the willow. It is natural for the lower arm, which is usually the dominant hand of most players, to generate power while hitting the ball hard into the air.
Coaches generally emphasize the need to have a strong top hand to control the stroke. In short, the top hand is believed to drive the shot-making and the role of the lower arm is to provide support.
“Rishabh is a top-handed player. It may appear that he is of the lower hand but his upper hand generates the power. That’s why his punches are so cruel. And once he is in good form, the top hand dictates the proceedings. It means he is not working very hard,” Devendra mentioned.
solid defensive techniques
Then comes the debunking of the myth of an out-and-out attacking batsman due to a lack of defensive technique. “You have to have good technique so that you can bat for long and hit sixes. Shot selection can be debatable but a good defensive technique cannot be compromised on. Devendra then points out that Rishabh is rarely bowled or lbw in international cricket and he has the ability to play spells in Test cricket.
Rishabh Pant (Image Credit: ICC/Reuters)
“When Rishabh first came into the sonnet, he had a natural ability to hit the ball hard and long. He used to go after every ball. Then we had to convince him that defensive techniques would help him bat longer. Then he focused more on hitting straight. Getting in line with the ball is important, especially for those one-handed sixes. You have to make sure that you give yourself the middle of the bat to detect and for that you should aim straight boundaries. Where the ball ends depends on the length of the ball, but the first intention is to defend the stumps and hit straight,” explained Devendra.
free mind and batswing
In the end, it comes down to clarity in mind. According to Devendra, Rishabh would never play that shot if he lost his mind. For Rishabh, a free bat swing is directly related to his state of mind. “When he was struggling a few years back, we asked him to hit the balls hard to get his batting back. Last year he scattered all the traps with his mind. With that came the back lift and the swing of the whole bat. Once he did that the shots got lost. Even for this one-arm six, you need the perfect back lift and a free bat swing that completes an arc,” commented Devendra.
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