Bangladesh cricket - About the back lift of our batsmen

In the Bangladesh cricket team, except Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, no other batsmen’s back lift is perfect. While batting, Shakib’s head remains absolutely still, front forearm almost parallel to the ground with wrist positioned higher than the elbow and left hand being higher than the right. His top hand controls the back lift well and he picks the bat up in line of the wickets. Mushfiq back lift is also the same.

Again, both Mushfiq and Shakib have a high back lift which is very important to execute the back-foot strokes in Australia. So, I hope that these two cricketers will be able to score fetch runs with authority downunder if they utilize their footwork and defence efficiently.

But in case of the other Bangladeshi batsmen, their back lift is not perfect. Most of their bat comes from either the second or third slip or gully and for which they are habituated to play across the line and thus, leaving a huge gap between bat and pad.

Our Mahmudullah Riyad and Mominul Haque have a high back lift, but the bat aims towards the second or third slip more often and they don’t allow the wrist to cock naturally to open the face of the bat. I have heard a lot of good words about Soumya Sarker’s back lift and I expect him to do well.

You might ask me about Tamim Iqbal’s back lift. All I can say that, players like Tamim are God gifted. Tamim is an unorthodox talent and relies more on their natural instincts and rhythm rather than technique.

A batsman has to be technically perfect if he wants to score runs in Australia. To fetch runs on bouncy tracks, apart from solid defence and astute footwork, it’s very important to have a correct back lift. As a matter of fact, a batsman’s life at the crease depends on the back lift. You can’t hit the ball perfectly if your back lift is not perfect, especially on bouncy tracks.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar