Bat basics: Light is right for Indian kids

It was an unhealthy trend in two ways. In cricketing terms, because the top hand should ideally be more dominant (the top hand gives direction, the bottom hand power). And in its physical manifestation, as some boys complained of back pain and elbow and arm injuries.

It got Sharma thinking and when he mentioned it to Gundappa Vishwanath, the latter told him that he worried for the next generation of batsmen with the prominence on the bottom hand.

Sharma eventually suspected that the weight of the bat had something to do with it and he returned to Jaipur to research into the problem, armed with a promise of funds from Karnataka State Cricket Association chief Brijesh Patel.

In his research, Sharma drew on the use of tennis rackets. ‘‘I wondered why, if you can use just one hand to play all your shots with a tennis racket, you can’t do the same with the bat and your top hand? Batsmen also essentially play with one hand guiding it’’, he told The Indian Express. In Jaipur Sharma (55) worked with physiotherapists and orthopaedic doctors to test the average Indian strength at various ages. He bought bats from the roadside and asked the boys at cricket camps in Jaipur and Bangalore — where he’s batting coach at the NCA — to try them out.

After a month’s research and less than Rs 1.5 lakh spent, Sharma veered round to the belief that batsmen up to the age of 16 should ideally play with a bat that weighs between 950-980 grams; those up to 18 years could use one weighing between 1050-1080 grams. The bat for seniors should weigh between 1120-1150 grams.

‘‘We got the bats made at Meerut and it was a hit. We saw 14-year-olds pull, lift their bats and play the square cuts so well. We realised we were on the right track. I submitted my report to the BCCI technical committee and its chief Sunil Gavaskar commended my effort’’, Sharma said.

Gavaskar’s suggestion was that instead of forcing it on individuals, the BCCI make a recommendation to all coaches at the junior level and let the boys decide what was good for them and what suited them best.

The theory of light bats is something Rahul Dravid — who hasn’t seen Sharma’s report — echoes.

‘‘My personal opinion is that kids should be allowed to use whichever bats that suit them but I always advise kids to use lighter bats so they can work on their technique and they have a better range of shots’’, Dravid told this reporter. ‘‘They are tempted to use the heavier bat purely because of the punch they generate but it’s not advisable when their bodies are not ready to use those weights.’’