Improve Your Batting in Cricket

Cricket is a great fun game, and even good for maintaining fitness. The fun multiplies if known to play well. Perhaps, the most important and difficult facet of cricket is batting. Batting looks quite easy, but it's a real test when you are on the field. It is for sure that batting needs a lot of practice, but here are some tips that can help you in improving your batting skills:

Steps

General techniques for improvement

  1. Practice. Practice is very important in order to improve your batting. Make sure to practice regularly, even if it is for a short interval, even half an hour. The more you practice, better your play will be.
    • An unplanned practice session helps in nothing but tiredness. Keep everything preplanned to help you out while practice session.
    • You can get a coach to help you on improving your batting skills. But remember, no one can teach you anything before you put your own efforts in your game. [1]
  2. Focus on your weak points. You should know your weaknesses and strengths and try to bat as much as possible to turn them into a strength. It is always better to have no weak points instead of having a few strengths. Work on balls which you feel hard to face or part of the ground where you mostly get out.[2]
  3. Believe in yourself. It is vital to believe that you can bat well. For this, you need to be passionate about cricket. Confidence comes with practice. The more you practice, better you will know about your game. Keep yourself motivated during games. Congratulate yourself on every single run.
  4. Play a variety of shots and strokes. Don't stick to a particular shot. Different balls need to be angled differently. You can practice a shot to master it, but should not make the same response on every ball. If you play a particular shot on a couple of balls, the bowler may realize that it is your strong zone and would avoid you bowling there.
  5. Set Goals. Try to set your goals such as 'Scoring 25 runs; playing yorkers'. Through this, you will increase your potential and more accurately come to know your capability. Start from small targets and then increase your levels step by step.
    • Play unofficial games. Play some pick-up games among friends that involve batting, but not necessarily in a true game. This would help you to increase your enthusiasm for batting and improve your skills at the same time.
    • You will come to know about handling pressure and play under tense circumstances.
    • Know your role. Find out what team wants from you and what position do you play in. Sometimes your team expects very much from you, but you do not know what you have to do when you go in.
    • Interact with your teammates. Attend team meetings and discuss strategies. An effective communication will help your teammates play well as a unit.
  6. Guess bowling strategies. Guess what could be the next ball from the bowler. If you know the tricks and the bowling speed of the bowler, you can decide your shots and adjust your timing.
    • Nothing can be done once the ball is delivered. You have to guess right from the run-up.
    • Place yourself in the bowler's position. Guess what you would have done if you were at the other end. This will help you guess and respond accordingly.
  7. Become well-versed in the tricks. Learn different tricks like playing the hook shots and playing drives. Always try to play from the middle of the bat, called the sweet spot.
  8. Watch matches played all the way out. Try to watch more and more matches and observe the strategies, then apply them in your own game.
    • Follow one of your favorite cricketers. Notice their style of playing and adapt those styles in your own game.
  9. Avoid being disappointed. If you can't achieve your goal, don't lose confidence. Every player has variations in capabilities and talent; some players don't achieve their goal even after many tries. The key is to not give up and keep practicing.
  10. Enjoy your game. Most importantly, you should love and enjoy the game. Play with a cool mind ;accept defeats and take them as a challenge and move on. Be fair and respect other players and your teammates, too. No one wants his/her team to lose the game.

Building your Innings

  1. Improve your Grip. It is a basic step, but very important for improving your batting. Different players have different grips, but usually a 'V' shaped grip is used. Bat is folded with palms and fingers crossing the bat. Bat can be hold from bottom or top but choose the style you like.
    • Usually, a bat is held near the bottom during the start of the innings. Once you are set in the middle overs, you can hold it from little above in the middle to play better and lofted shots.
    • The upper hand should be held tight while the lower hand a little loose, helping you to play drives.
  2. Work on your stance. Different player have different stance. You can try various stances and look out for the most comfortable one. Take a guard over the middle wicket. Your weight must be balanced on the balls of yours feet and a foot inside the crease.
    • Your eyes and shoulders should be leveled; focusing on the ball or the hand of the bowler, better is focusing on the ball as it tricks.
    • Take guard, preferable middle guard and rest the toe of your bat exactly in the center.
  3. Build you innings. Spend time on the pitch and score singles or doubles on every delivery. Rotate the strike and give more opportunities to your partner if he/she is having a good game.
  4. Improve your Muscular Strength. The game of cricket requires a lot of muscular strength. You need to hit off those long sixes and for that you require a great arm strength. Do some hard work to get those big muscles.
  5. Play some good knocks. Once you have scored quite runs and have helped your team win at difficult stages, you will have a good time on field. Try to score big whenever you get opportunity. Failures are common, but you must not stop trying.



Tips

  • Don't lose hope. Even international players are out for a duck. Criticism is common with opportunities.
  • Motivation comes from within. Build motivation by setting small targets, then making them big.
  • Warm-ups are very important. Do some stretches before going out on the field.
  • Always try to play from the middle of your bat. Edges can lead to loosing your crucial wicket.
  • While playing to fast bowling, play late. Once you get idea of swing, you can approach the bowl better.
  • Patient and defensive batsmen are durable.
  • If you are right-handed, grip the bat with your left wrist in front and wrapping your hand around the bat. This will help you bat 360º around the pitch and help master the cover drive and mid on drive.
  • Always cheer your team while fielding if he miss catch don't shout u should motivate him for next better bowl. Cheer up.

Warnings

  • Use proper sports gear while playing to prevent injuries.
  • Never play with an injury. It could lead to a serious body damage.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.coachingcricketexcellence.co.uk/cricket-coaching-advice/batting-advice/improving-technique.shtml
  2. ↑ http://www.pitchvision.com/11-ways-to-improve-your-attacking-batting

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