Batting stance is one of most important components of a batter and if that is correct, a lot of things fall in perspective for a batter. However, this world is a surreal place and from the comical to the deadbeat faces of seriousness, cricket has witnessed it all. However, one thing that cricket has witnessed very rarely is a weird batting stance.
Not every day do you get to showcase your unique stance. Somedays you would simply rock and roll with your ordinary, orthodox and conventional displays. And then there are a few batters who made the world their very own and brought out their own bizarre display with the willow in their hand. From reaching out in a straight posture to almost slouching down to his knees, cricket has been a great leveller. Here are the five weirdest batting stances to have appeared on international cricket.
#1 Shivnarine Chanderpaul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqDc50aS3Ko
From covering the three stumps to switching to a normal side-on stance, Chanderpaul has done it all. He was an eminent player for the Caribbean and the kind of display that he has knitted together has been nothing short of wondrous. He would pivot around in joy and then play his drives as if there was no change of stance. That is why he is still deemed as a Caribbean legend.
#2 Ajit Agarkar
You would not have probably seen a bigger bat-lift than that of Ajit Agarkar. One of the most talented bowlers to have come from India, a master of that inswinging yorker, Agarkar would often make headlines for his wicket-taking capability. But then the man was also an all-rounder back in those days, when a team would have just one or two all-rounders unlike today. In fact, he has a Test century at Lord’s, he had a 90-plus knock against West Indies and that too against the attack that comprised the likes of Mervyn Dillon and Cameron Cuffy. His batlift was miles in the air and he would actually strike the ball with that high of a batlift. People say that ideally because of his stance, he was the one who played the chopper for the first time, but Dhoni gave it that follow-through wheel that made it famous.
#3 Fawad Alam
The Pakistani batter probably has one of the funniest batting stances and it simply gets more hilarious every time you see it. He would stand with his front turned to the bowler and that is one bizarre spectacle that you get to witness. He is obviously a brilliant batter but that stance of his have frequently landed him in trouble. Believe this or not, but he has made excellent use of that surreal stance of his.
#4 Dinesh Mongia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UTtp0G8DyQ
Ideally from anyone’s perspective, one of the rare all-rounders of India, Dinesh Mongia who was actually a hit back in those early days, would be pretty orthodox. But then the kind of straight posture that he would have while batting, that is where the oddity lied. He is a tall man and while reaching down he would bat with a straight back. Now for anyone who has played cricket would know that batting with a straight back is usually off the books.
#5 Steve Smith
Find a more bizarre batting stance than Steve Smith and we would wait. The man would probably pull off all idiosyncrasies with his own signature expressions that would leave the fans amused and his counterparts riled up. He would bat with an open stance and would keep on shifting and shuffling across the line. Talk about runs and he would keep on scoring them aplenty.
