Mahendra Singh Dhoni is hailed as one of the greatest cricketers to have ever played the game. Millions of people look up to him as their inspiration. As per reports, Dhoni suggested Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya use bats with pronounced curves at the bottom to improve power hitting.
T20 is evolving the manner and strategies of the game of cricket. The shape of a bat is a small but impactful aspect of the modern-day game. MS Dhoni being one of the geniuses of the game has suggested two Indian youngsters to use bat, that are curved at the bottom in order to improve their game.
Paras Anand, the Managing Director of leading sports equipment manufacturer Sanspareils Greenlands (SG), was quoted by the Times of India saying: “It was Dhoni who had first started using this kind of bat before the 2019 World Cup. And now these Indian players have started asking for this kind of bat,”
It has to be noted that Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya was struggling with his form during the IPL 2021 and was also out of the Indian team for a long period. However, Hardik Pandya made a blockbuster return to form and took his side to their maiden IPL trophy. During the break, he had worked on the shape of his bat as well apart from other aspects.
Rishabh Pant also has been on and off in T20Is and has been struggling to cement his place in the playing XI in the shortest format of the game. He had also turned to Dhoni for help. The former captain had suggested him to use curved bats and he is getting used to it now.
Explaining how the shape of the bat impacts the game, Anand said: “These bats are ordered specially for shorter formats. The players claim that it helps them access all directions of the ground while shot-making. A bat with a flat bottom prompts a relatively closed stance whereas the round-bottomed bat enables them to have a more open stance that helps them to manoeuvre the bat easily from the word go,” TOI reported Anand explaining.
He added: “If one shaves the bottom and makes it round, the bat has a thicker base and has more meat at the bottom.”
