“Babar has emerged over the last year or so into something that is going to be so special. We talked about how Virat Kohli is so good on the eye as a batsman. If you think Virat Kohli is good to watch, have a look at Babar Azam bat. My gosh, he is something special.” Tom Moody said.
One doesn’t get easily compared with one of the top gems of cricket.
So far, the run machine kind of players of Pakistan; think about Inzamam ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Saeed Anwar, Younis Khan, and Mohammad Hafeez been exceptional with the numbers they brought in for the team. But this Lahore born cricketer is entirely different from those mentioned above ‘elite list of Pakistan.’
Babar differs with his stupendous batting technique!
Babar differs with his incredible numbers at this young age!
Moreover, Babar differs as a fervent Pakistani batter!
Babar Azam entered the international stage with a half-century on his debut, started to conquer the numbers efficiently with his shrewdness, and now has come to a level where he is on the verge of converting the term Fab 4 of international cricket into Fab 5.
Even though Babar has grabbed our attention with his stats, it was his technique that pulled the limelight on him, first and foremost.
As a result of pure class in batting, there is a vast fan-following for the eye-catching technique of Babar Azam, which Sachin Tendulkar had during his cricket days and what Virat Kohli is having currently.
Let’s dive in to see what makes Babar Azam batting technique so astonishing and look into his way of producing strokes.
Batting Technique
Stance
- Babar has a very ordinary batting stance, slightly pressing on his front foot.
- He depends more on the shuffle that comes in just before the bowler makes his jump.
- The tip of the bat faces the gap in between the wicket-keeper and the first slip.
Shuffle
- The shuffle in his batting comes in the form of a little jump.
- The quick shuffle inwards arranges his front foot to face the mid-off region while his back-foot facing the cover-point region.
- Consequently, the shuffle brings him to the middle stump line, sets his sword reachable with any line.
- Like any other batsmen, Babar doesn’t make any shuffle against spinners.
Light footer
- The batsman, who has a unique footwork technique, uses both the feet in his own right way.
- His short footwork helps him in the effortless shifting of weight between the front foot and back foot.
- Especially the back-foot strokes. Those are elegant because of the comfortability Babar has with his leg that drops behind.
- When he presses his front foot to make strokes, the bodyweight lies entirely on the balls of his front foot.
- So, after making the shot, Babar does this process of lifting his front foot and landing it to his leg side to balance the force generated in his body.
Head over the ball
- Babar’s head position is a critical factor for his technique.
- His head stands tall and steady, gets him on top of the ball while contacting the ball.
- His perfect hand-eye coordination makes his work much more relaxed. It makes the ‘watch the ball hit the ball game’ for Babar Azam.
Bat swing
- The unreal bat swing of Babar sets him apart from other batters.
- Babar empowers his bat swing to make effective contact with the ball.
- Even though the bat swing is so quick, it is the Pakistanian bloke’s timing that emits the cracking sound from his sword.
Wrist work
- One specific thing that is most common among the batting greats is the wrist work, particularly Babar. He is an expert in using the wrist.
- Babar Azam’s flexible wrists, combined with hefty bat swing, gives a divine touch to his strokes.
- Addedly, the uncommon flexible wrists of the right-handed batsman give him the exclusive power to send the ball through whatever gaps he wants.
Range of shots
Cut shot
- Since Babar’s bat lift is higher facing slightly away from the wicket-keeper, the cut shot is an easy way of bashing the outside off short balls.
- The Pakistanian bloke doesn’t have to go too much off to make this shot.
- His routine shuffle is enough to make him reach the offside short balls.
- During the course of the shot, the balls of his back foot take charge, absorb the whole body weight, and make him stand tall.
- Eventually, his elbows take the responsibility to get the bat over the ball’s head, pointing towards the point region.
Cover drive
- The cover drive is the signature of Babar. He is already one of our top 10 cover drivers in cricket.
- The bat swing is given more importance for this shot.
- Other than his bat swing, his short stride footwork puts him in an opportune spot to bang the ball with the middle of the bat.
- Furthermore, his quick weight transfer between his legs aids either with front-foot cover drives or with back-foot cover drives.
- Moreover, the Pakistani batter uses his flexible wrists to the utmost limits to make the ball into the gaps.
Straight drive
- Babar Azam’s straight drive equation is the same as that of his cover drive except for the direction involved.
- Also, Babar presses his front foot a bit harder for this stroke, than any other of his shots.
- A little walk is made down the pitch to balance the firm press made on the front toe.
- Being a subcontinent player stepping down against the spinners for lofted straight drives isn’t a big deal for Babar Azam. Read about Sachin Tendulkar’s straight drive technicality here.
Pull shot
- Again the wrist work is forced to direct the short balls into the gaps.
- Since enormous power is required to pull the soaring short balls, his wrist power is not suitable for this shot.
- This wrist technique is most suited against the spinners but not against the steaming fast bowlers.
- However, the knack of quick hands and timing gives him the weapon of tackling the short balls. Here’s the top pull shot players of the game.
If you have never watched a pull shot played with the wrist, then you have never seen Babar Azam’s way of pulling.
Flick
- Typical Pakistani style of flick shot.
- Head in front of the front leg, middles the ball, flicks it by the roll of the wrists.
- Plays it only when the ball is down the leg.
- Never tries to play it across when the ball is bowled on the stump line.
And that makes him an effective player of flicks.
Sweep shot
- This shot makes him lethal against spinners, especially the slog sweep, when he wants to go over the rope.
- Moreover, he is a perfect executioner of the conventional sweep towards the square leg, and the paddle sweep towards the fine leg.
- As mentioned earlier, the roll of the wrists brings out perfect sweep shots from the Lahore-born batsman.
Here’s the best sweep shot players of the game.
“I used to come home from training and practise for two hours again.” – Babar Azam on his childhood cricket memory.
Extreme talent, pure technique, intense passion, and hardwork is the short story of Babar Azam from Lahore.
To be frank, Pakistan cricket has held its head high with the technically sounded performances of Babar Azam.
The determination and passion towards the sport have paid off in the case of Babar Azam.
It’s so good to see the brilliant bowling attack of the Pakistan team of now, accompanied by a conventional batting style. The future of the Pakistan team seems so bright, and it will be so with the entry of flamboyant talents like Babar into the team.
The post In-Focus: Babar Azam Batting Technique appeared first on CricIndeed.
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