Blitzing in the end overs of a Twenty20 innings is a lot about deriving coherence from a welter of qualities. As the pressure mounts, execution of skills becomes harder.
For a batsman, succeeding in this cauldron has much to do with his awareness of the situation, the strategy in place, ability to pick the length, range of shots and, of course, power.
There were occasions in IPL-11, when Vijay Shankar, finding the right mix, launched into the bowling in the Death overs. The tall all-rounder did explode at the finish for Delhi Daredevils.
In a chat with The Hindu , Vijay Shankar credited much of his success to specific training done with RobotArm — a flexible, dynamic stick that can hold and ball — during the IPL.
Varying speeds, lengths
“The person releasing the ball at the batsman with this stick can generate speeds close to 145kmph.
And you can ask him to land the ball in specific areas and try to execute your shots from there,” said Vijay Shankar.
For instance, Vijay Shankar would play shots against the yorker, both on the stumps and wide, and deliveries at different lengths.
The trick was to adjust his back-lift according to the length of the delivery, clear his front-leg and get under the ball. Then there were those inside-out strokes where the dynamics of feet movement were different.
Vijay Shankar felt the toughest ball to cope with in Twenty20 cricket was one just back-of-a-length and rising about waist high.
Here, he had to go deeper into the crease and generate power with his bat-speed, shoulders and wrists.
This brings us to another territory — range hitting. This is essentially centre-wicket practice on a ground with the batsmen, placing plastic cones in the parts of the boundary ropes that he intends to clear, targets those areas.
This is a very specific ball-striking method where the batsman, in a calculated fashion, expands his range, enhances power. Vijay Shankar grew in confidence with these drills.
The 27-year-old Vijay Shankar’s 31-ball unbeaten 54 against Chennai Super Kings in Pune, inclusive of five sixes, was a top effort.
Brutal onslaught
The innings included a brutal onslaught on Dwayne Bravo in the climactic stages. “Bravo is a challenging bowler and the knock gave me a lot of satisfaction.”
Having failed to fire for India in the final of the Nidahas Trophy Twenty20 series in Sri Lanka this year — he was mercilessly trolled for the same — Vijay Shankar had to conquer the demon of self doubt as well.
And here, chats with Australian legend Ricky Ponting, who guided the Daredevils, proved a blessing for the Tamil Nadu all-rounder. Vijay Shankar was back…and firing in the game’s shortest format.
