The game of cricket has changed drastically and so have the debates surrounding it. The gentlemen’s game had been traditional for a long time but then T20 cricket hapened. Cricket is a fast game like football now and innovation is its core.
T20 leagues further changed the dynamics of the game. Bowlers innovated themselves by bowling cutters and the slower yorkers, whereas the batsmen also brought new ammunitions in their arsenal, ‘Switch Hit’ being one of them. But there is a debate going over this modern-day cricketing shot. Someone like Ian Chappel and Shane Warne, the former Australian greats, have termed the shot as “unfair on batsman”. According to them if a bowler is expected to tell the umpires about how they are going to bowl, then a batsman also should have a moral responsibilty of doing the same.
However, the switch hit has got a backing from non other than former India captain and current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly. Ganguly has said that the game has moved on and the “popular” switch hit shot can not be taken away from the modern-day batsmen. Ganguly has called switch hit a “courageous” shot, adding that it showcases the skills of a batsmen.
“The game has moved on, so I don’t see we can take away this popular stroke from the modern-day batsmen,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by Mid Day.
“You require a lot of strength to play such courageous shot. Apart from timing and feet movement, a lot of other things are required to play this stroke. Kevin Pietersen was the first to play this shot. Also David Warner’s name should come here. It’s a very good shot if you can hit it nicely.”
“How can one side of the game, ie. the bowlers, they have to tell the umpire how they’re going to bowl. And yet the batsman, he lines up as a right-hander I’m the fielding captain, I place the field for the right-hander and before the ball’s been delivered, the batsman becomes a left-hander,” Chappell told nine.com.au.
“One of the main reasons why he’s becoming a left-hander is so he can take advantage of those field placings. I’d love the administrators who made those laws, I’d love them to explain to me how that’s fair.”
