Elegant batsmen dispel myth

NEW DELHI. – Big-hitters like Chris Gayle have long hogged the Twenty20 limelight but this season’s Indian Premier League has proved that elegant, old-school batting is just as important in cricket’s shortest format.South Africa’s Hashim Amla has been delighting cricketing purists by racking up large totals with his conventional style of play while Kane Williamson of New Zealand is also showing there’s more to T20 than power.

“T20 is not about sixes . . . T20 is about making sure that there are no dot balls [deliveries on which no run is scored] and both these batsmen have made sure that there are very few dot balls,” Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar said.

“Playing the ball according to its merit and keep the scoreboard ticking is the key. That’s how they have been more successful this year.

“You look at the entire T20 game and you will see that any time there will be more boundaries than sixes. And you can hit the boundaries along the ground, you can hit them one bounce into the fence,” he added.

Amla has amassed 315 runs in eight matches for Kings XI Punjab, including a maiden T20 century — one of four tons to have been hit so far in the tenth edition of the IPL.

The 34-year-old right-hander, famed for his classic stroke-playing, has also notched two half-centuries and has been instrumental in putting his team in contention for a play-off place.

Amla has recorded 12 sixes and 32 fours while maintaining a strike-rate of 140.

Williamson has accumulated 228 runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad in just five matches, including a sublime match-winning knock of 89 against Delhi Daredevils.

The 26-year-old New Zealander has hit just 17 fours and nine sixes and has kept his run-rate, which is above 160, topped up by his ability to sneak in quick singles and twos.

“I think it’s a big myth that T20 is just for power-hitters. Even players like (India legend) Rahul Dravid and Amla have a fairly impressive white-ball average,” Dileep Premachandran, editor-in-chief of Wisden India, said. – AFP.