22 April,2017 12:48 PM IST | | Shreeram Gokhale
Pune skipper Steven Smith's success is based on his solid basic technique which has made him arguably the best batsman across all formats
Rising Pune Supergiant captain Steven Smith. Pic/AFP
Pune: Technique plays a fundamental role in making of a batsman. Be it a copy book style player like Rahul Dravid, or a swashbuckler like Virender Sehwag, solid basic technique has been key to the success of both the batting maestros. And same applies to a modern great like Steven Smith, arguably the best batsman across all formats currently.
Smith's unorthodox style
To put it mildly, Smith's technique is a bit unorthodox. By the time the bowler reaches his stride, this right-hander has already shuffled across on or slightly outside his off stump. That means anything on off stump, or on the fourth stump is leg side for the Australian skipper. No wonder this talented batsman was criticised heavily by Australian experts in his early days.
And to learn that technique almost towards the end of his junior days deserves a lot of credit for the player, as well as his coach.
The story goes that it was Smith's coach Trent Woodhill, who told him to start imagining off-stump as his leg stump. The basic idea of this theory was, since Smith had a very strong bottom hand grip, his movement towards off stump would open up the leg side completely for him. It also throws out a bowler's basic plan of bowling within stumps.
"I was about 16 when my coach told me to change that technique," Smith explained.
It's quite a challenging technique to adapt, because it means you just can't afford to be hit on the pads. It also requires a great hand-eye co-ordination, and equally good reflexes, something Woodhill probably believed Smith possessed. To Smith's credit, he has been out LBW only six times in 100 Test innings, in a format where he has scored 20 hundreds and averages above 61.
"It took a while for me to figure out the best way to play and unlearn my game (which I had learned previously). I would say, it took me more time to adjust than what I would have ideally liked, but yeah, I am comfortable with where my game is now," Smith added.
Tried and tested technique
It's not a game changer. It's not a technique that was not tried before. Kevin Pietersen batted with a similar shuffle and was quite successful at that. But to be able to master that, for a guy who made his Test debut for Australia as a leg-spinner, is an incredible feat, to say the least.
