Sourav Ganguly On Switch Hit: Cricket Has Moved On

Sourav Ganguly, the former skipper of India and current BCCI president, does not agree with Ian Chappell‘s view to banning switch-hits as it is unfair on the bowlers.

Sourav Ganguly feels that the game has moved on, so the popular stroke which requires accurate timing, strength and feet movement cannot be taken away from the world-class batsmen.

Sourav Ganguly Doesn’t Agree With Ian Chappell’s Views To Ban Switch Hits

Sourav Ganguly, a left-handed batsman, said cricket has moved on and one requires a lot of strength to play a courageous shot like switch hit which also requires timing and movement. Sourav Ganguly said that the former England player Kevin Pietersen was the first batsman to play the switch-hit perfectly before David Warner and Glenn Maxwell mastered the stroke. Sourav Ganguly feels that the shot is a good one if one can hit it to perfection.

“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.”

Writing for ESPNCricinfo, Ian Chappell said although the shot was an excellent one executed recently by the likes of Glenn Maxwell off Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav, it isn’t fair to the bowler.

“One of the main tasks of a cricket administrator is to frame laws that maintain a reasonable balance between bat and ball. If the laws or playing conditions favour one or the other unfairly then the game becomes a diminished contest,” wrote the former player.

The bowler announces beforehand whether he is bowling around or over the wicket but the batsman doesn’t announce beforehand that he is reversing his stance and grip to the bat, which is unfair feels the former Australian.

Simon Taufel: Impossible To Officiate Switch Hits For Umpires Who Are Already Overburdened

Former umpire Simon Taufel, a revered and respected umpire had said earlier that it’s impossible to ban switch hits as the on-field umpires already have too many things to do. He feels that the umpires are already overburdened and to declare a dead ball while batsmen changes gear trying to play switch hits will increase their load.

“The game of cricket is not a science, it’s an art. We’re not perfect,” the former ICC Elite Panel umpire was quoted as saying by ‘Sydney Morning Herald’.

“When we say that we want to ban that type of shot how does the umpire officiate that? It’s impossible. The umpire has an enormous number of decisions – front foot, back foot, protected area, seeing where a ball is hit – it’s impossible to have an official then watch for the changing of the grip or stance. It’s an impossible ask for a standing umpire to make that determination. We can’t make a law that we can’t apply.”

Ian Chappell, however, doesn’t agree with Simon Taufel’s views by saying that the square-leg umpire pays close attention to batsman’s feet if a stumping occurs so he can declare the dead ball in case batsmen change their feet and attempt to play switch hit.

Chappell devised a way to apply the law, saying, “The square-leg umpire is already paying close attention to the batsman’s feet in case there is a stumping, so he’ll notice any change of order. If a batsman changes the order of his feet, then the square-leg umpire ought to simply declare the ball dead and no runs result.”

However, Glenn Maxwell thinks that the switch-hit is within the laws and upholds the spirit of the game and the shot demands a huge amount of skill and expertise to execute perfectly.