Every exceptional athlete in any sport has a set of characteristics that set them all apart from one another. The best quarterbacks in the NFL all possess exceptional speed in processing vast quantities of information, long-distance throwing ability, and excellent footwork to position themselves to throw. The best football players possess incredible physicality, stamina, and a strong will to succeed in their games. They appear to know exactly where they should be at every moment during a match because they are also very good readers of the game. Of course, this also applies to cricket! Scroll down to read the Qualities Required To Be An Elite Batsman In Cricket.
Qualities Required To Be An Elite Batsman In Cricket
Some characteristics or attributes make you more likely to succeed than others when it comes to batting. If not all, most of these attributes are possessed by elite batsmen of today like Joe Root, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, and Kane Williamson; the same is true of elite players of the past like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Kumar Sangakkara!
In this article, we’ll outline the key characteristics that, in our opinion, distinguish all great batsmen and discuss why they matter for the craft of batting. Some of these will have to do with the battering technique, while others may be more cerebral or mental. Let us first discuss if a given attribute is better suited for a certain type of cricket than another, and then we’ll tell you which player we think exemplifies each quality the best! Please enjoy reading the rest of this post if any of it piques your interest!
Then what distinguishes a world-class cricket batsman?
Qualities Required To Be An Elite Batsman In Cricket
The main qualities of elite batsmen are:
- They can pick lines and lengths early
- They have good decision-making skills
- They have fast reaction times
- They display excellent head position & footwork
- They have a large range of shots available to them
- They have immense powers of concentration
- They play with ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ hands when required
- They have excellent hand-eye coordination
- They are driven, highly motivated individuals
- They have high levels of self-belief
To provide a more thorough explanation, I will now go into each of these attributes separately. Upon completion, I believe you will have a much better understanding of what makes elite batsmen so exceptional! Now let’s get going.
Picking Line & Length Early
The ability to pick up line and length early on is maybe the most crucial attribute for a batsman. If you’re not familiar with the word, it implies that the batsman can predict where the ball will land and how high and wide the delivery will be by the time it reaches them, once it leaves the bowler’s hand.
It’s common to hear analysts say that a top batsman appears to have enough time to execute his shots when you watch him bat. Naturally, this is not accurate. These players have the same amount of time as everyone else when they face a particular bowler.
However, because they can judge the ball’s line and length so quickly, they can position themselves to play the ball considerably faster, which ensures that they never appear hurried. It appears as though they have more time to respond since everything about their game is so composed and rhythmic. Sometimes, when I watch Steve Smith bat, it appears as though he anticipates where the ball will end up before it leaves the bowler’s hand. Sometimes it felt like he was taking up line and length so early that he could never be rushed. I think this is the level of bravery that we should all be aiming for!
To provide a more thorough explanation, I will now go into each of these attributes separately. Upon completion, I believe you will have a much better understanding of what makes elite batsmen so exceptional! Now let’s get going.
You have more time to react to the ball and play your shot if you can judge its length and line early on. Fortunately, you can train yourself to recognize lines and lengths more quickly.
Good Decision-Making Skills
The best batsmen will also be highly skilled decision-makers, which will reduce their likelihood of making stupid or poor decisions.
An excellent batsman, for instance, will likely be able to discern when it is appropriate to play straight or cover drives while the ball is swinging significantly. As a result, they can avoid taking this shot and save their wicket. An excellent batsman may not be enticed to take the hook shot if the bowling side has four fielders out on the leg side for the short ball since they know that this is exactly what the bowling side is trying to get them to do.
An exceptional batter may decide to use their feet right away and attempt to hit through this zone if a spin bowler is bowling and the fielding captain brings in a foolish point fielder near the bat. A fielder stationed at a silly point does not want to see this, and if the batsman keeps using his feet, the fielder will frequently be shifted as a result.
A less talented or experienced hitter may fall victim to the bowling team’s trap in the aforementioned instances and make a poor judgment that leads to their out. Proficient batters are adept at reading the state of the game and comprehending the intentions of the bowlers, which facilitates them in countering their
Fast Reaction Times
Batsmen have about thirty seconds from the time the ball leaves the bowler’s hand to when it reaches them when they are up against the fastest of fast bowlers. They have a remarkably brief window of opportunity to react and reply. This implies that in about 0.5 seconds, they must:
- Keep their eyes on the ball, gathering information about where it is going to land and how high/wide it will be when it reaches them
- Relay this information to the brain
- The brain interprets the information and selects an appropriate response. This could be a certain shot that the batsman will play or a type of evasive action
- The brain sends a signal to the relevant muscle groups to put the response into action
Naturally, while we are batting, we hardly see any of the aforementioned phases, which happen in a split second. However, at the elite level, the batsmen who can complete these stages in the shortest amount of time are likely to be more successful. To put it simply, at the elite international level of the game, there are a lot of bowlers that are quicker than you, thus the quicker you react, the better prepared you will be to handle them!
Excellent Head Position & Footwork
The ability to bat with outstanding head position and/or footwork is a trait shared by all elite hitters. Getting your head in line with the ball is vital if you want to evaluate and play it as well as possible. You can put yourself into terrible, unbalanced situations and make it much harder for yourself to strike the ball if you place your head too far outside the ball’s line, as I’m doing in the picture below. You may be attacking a delivery that is much too far away from your body if your head is positioned too far inside the ball’s line. Controlling this kind of photo is significantly more difficult!
When batting, a hitter with good head position is more likely to have strong footwork as well. in particular while facing fast bowlers! This is because your feet usually follow your head wherever it goes. To rebalance your body, your feet will almost definitely want to go in the same direction if you, for instance, stand in your batting stance and lean your head forward toward the off side. As a result, if you turn your head in the direction of the ball, your front foot will follow suit, keeping you balanced and in control of your shots. This is the reason head position matters so much!
The majority of the best players from the past 20 years have flawless head positions if you watch them when they’re playing at their best. This is an extremely helpful component of batting technique that all young players and aspiring pros should be considering and honing in practice!
A Large Range Of Shots
An excellent batter would probably have a wide variety of shots at his disposal to put bowlers to the sword, especially if he is participating in shorter cricket formats such as T20 matches. A batsman can knock the ball into more parts of the field if they are skilled at playing a wide variety of cricket strokes. Fielding captains and bowlers find it extremely difficult to establish fields and create bowling strategies for them as a result.
Usually, players who can play every stroke in the book are called 360-degree players. One of the best hitters I’ve ever seen, AB de Villiers, is perhaps the most well-known example of this. He was immensely destructive in every version of the game and a true modern great. The fielding captain never felt he had enough fielders when he got a ball on a decent length right outside the off stump because he had so many potential shots to play against that delivery.
He was capable of playing a variety of traditional shots, like as straight drives and cover drives, as well as clearing the front leg and hitting over mid-wicket, getting down and reverse-sweeping it over the third man, and stepping outside the off stump and ramping it over fine leg.
The best way to become like players like AB de Villiers and begin developing your wide repertoire of shots is to practice, practice, and practice being creative while facing various bowling attacks. If you want to see a comprehensive catalog of every cricket shot, along with advice on how to play each one.
Immense Powers Of Concentration
Although this trait is more useful in longer cricket matches, such as test matches, it is still relevant in shorter game types. Batters will need to stay at the crease for extended periods to play game-winning innings. This is quite difficult to perform and calls for the batsman to focus for several hours at a time.
To watch the ball from the moment it leaves the bowler’s hand until it hits their bat, batters must maintain a high degree of focus both before and throughout each delivery. Being able to evaluate the ball is one of the most crucial parts of hitting successfully. When a batsman loses concentration, he or she may not keep their eyes on the ball during the entire flight of the delivery, which can happen when the bowler is rushing in. This is the point at which errors in judgment may cause you to escape.
It’s not too difficult to concentrate on the ball and what you need to do to get off to a good start at the beginning of an innings. However, it’s amazing how frequently batters may lose that mental drive and get out after spending an hour or two in the crease. The best hitters can stay focused for entire days while batting, which is an incredible ability in and of itself.
Playing With ‘Soft’ & ‘Hard’ Hands When Required
In cricket, batters are required to use both “soft hands” and “hard hands” depending on the situation. The best batsmen in the game are quite proficient at using both and know when to do so.
The batsman should ideally be attempting to play the ball with soft hands when it is swinging and seaming around and they are unsure of where it will be when it passes them. When they play with gentle hands, they aren’t violently pushing or shoving their hands in the direction of the ball.
Rather than the other way around, they are letting the ball come to them and letting it hit the bat. This reduces the likelihood that a batsman will get edges on the ball and get it to the keeper or slip fielders, which can be crucial when the ball is swinging and seaming a lot. Kane Williamson and other players are masters at this. The amount of times a bowler has found the edge of his bat and the ball has simply died and plunged straight into the ground is beyond my memory!
A batter who plays with “hard hands” is propelling his hands fiercely in the direction of the ball. This is helpful in T20 cricket, as it’s more vital to play attackingly and score runs quickly rather than worrying too much about keeping your wicket. When you watch a player like Jason Roy start the batting for England, you can see this in action. He is a very powerful batter in part because he hits the ball far in front of his body and follows through with his hands.
Put simply, a batsman’s ability to play with both soft and firm hands at different times gives him a significant advantage, and the best players can switch between the two regularly.
Excellent Hand-Eye Co-Ordination
To guarantee that you can consistently strike the ball when it is spinning to different degrees and coming at you quickly, you must possess exceptional hand-eye coordination. Given that they have to cope with the fastest bowling and highest levels of spin, it should come as no surprise that the best batsmen do well in this domain.
Thankfully, there is room for improvement in this area with time! Your eyes and hands will work together more effectively the more time you spend observing the ball and hitting it in the net.
Driven, Highly Motivated Individuals
To excel and become a top athlete in any sport, you must possess a strong sense of motivation and desire. Your internal desire and motivation will be what keeps you practicing as much as you can each week—yes, even in the winter—and year after year. Your will to succeed will carry you through difficult times, such as when you are having trouble facing a particular style of bowling or when you are healing from an injury.
Steve Smith is, in my opinion, one of the top athletes who has brilliantly displayed his determined personality throughout the years. He was viewed more as a leg spin prospect who could be a useful top-order batter when he initially joined the Australian team. He has become one of the most productive test batters in cricket history, though, because of his well-known practice ethic and will to hit runs.
As an England supporter who has been stung by many of his innings, I can attest that he has undergone an incredible metamorphosis in his game. I’m sure he mostly credits this metamorphosis to his constant willingness to put in the necessary work to succeed. He was determined to become the player and batter he had always dreamed of being, and he would not give up until he did. It’s a mindset that we should all strive to have!
High Levels Of Self-Belief
In athletics, there’s a proverb that says an athlete’s true character is revealed in how they handle hardship and failure, not in their triumph. It is quite simple to stay confident in your talents and performance when you are winning and performing well. But, when things aren’t going well, especially after they haven’t been doing well for a while, it’s much tougher to stay in that mindset.
Every batsman experiences a spell in their career where they are not doing well and receives a string of poor scores. In these situations, batters with a high degree of self-belief are typically able to break out of a bad run of form more quickly than players with a low degree of self-confidence.
Joe Root recently went through a difficult period following his captaincy, but he overcame it and has since scored thousands of runs by having faith in his abilities. Alastair Cook’s international career nearly ended with a few disastrous innings at one time in his career, but he managed to score a run for himself and continued to open the batting for many more years for England.
One of the many qualities that make Virat exceptional is his strong sense of self-belief, which is evident to anybody who has followed him throughout his career. I wouldn’t put money on him not to bounce back from this slump and continue to score hundreds of runs until the end of his career!
So, this was all about the Qualities Required To Be An Elite Batsman In Cricket.
