Heavy bats affecting young Indian batsman

The negative influence of heavy bats on young Indian batsmen - the effect on the body and on the batsman's strokemaking abilities - continues to be a growing concern among junior coaches around the country.

Joining in the debate, Greg Chappell, the former India coach who is currently the director of the Rajasthan Cricket Academy, thinks it's one of the biggest problems facing Indian cricket today, in their quest to find a great batsman for the future.

"I think that is one of biggest handicaps to learning batting in India - this trend of very heavy bats, particularly among youngsters," Chappell said in Bangalore while promoting Cricket Star, a talent-spotting programme.

"It has a huge effect on the development of batting, the ability to move the body and be able to manipulate that bat through a range of movements, control it. It has a huge impact on grips, it has a huge impact on footwork."

Paras Anand, director of SG, a leading bat manufacturing company, confirms that the demand among juniors has increasingly veered towards heavy bats. "Compared to South Africa, Australia, England and other countries, youngsters in India have always wanted heavier bats. Maybe it's because of a lack of awareness."

Coaches have been expressing this concern for a while. Back in 2005 a scientific study presented to the National Cricket Academy had laid out maximum weight limits for bats, a recommendation that was passed by the junior cricket committee of the board.

The general consensus appears to be related to Sachin Tendulkar, a child prodigy who made heavy bats fashionable. Parthasarthi Sharma, the former Indian batsman who is currently a batting coach, initiated this study as he felt several youngsters were suffering in an attempt to emulate Tendulkar. "He was good enough to use such a heavy bat so early in his career," Sharma told Cricinfo, "but the rest were trying to blindly copy him.

"So I came up with a scientific study based on body weight, height and other parameters, to lay down the maximum weight for bats used at various age-group levels. Gautam Gambhir is a typical example of someone who was predominantly bottom-handed. He changed his bat three years back and his game has changed completely. So many such examples exist."

Pravin Amre, the former Indian batsman who currently coaches Mumbai, has observed a trend across juniors and feels it's an aspect coaches need to stress more often. "I see a trend that many younger boys just use the heavier bats and they are going to struggle with shots like pull," said Amre, who was also a junior selector till recently. "But the responsibility is with the coaches. They have to tell their boys what is the right for that particular individual."

However Sharma sounds an optimistic note. "I have noticed a lot of juniors revert to lighter bats these days. It's helping their horizontal-bat shots. So we might see more rounded batsmen in the days to come."