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Lara and Sehwag's backlift

mohammad16

U19 Captain
Whats funny is people hardly ever talk about Sehwag's backlift, its nearly as high as Lara's, definitely much higher than Tendulkars.

Ravi Shastri also mentioned that he uses one of the lightest bats in the Indian team around 2.7.

What was Lara's bat weight like? Id think it was pretty damn light.

Anyhow the very light bat certainly aids tremendously with the high bat speed Sehwag produces and also helps a lot with the horizontal bat shots such as the cut and sweep.

Tendulkar has always been an all round player but certainly didnt use the horizontal bat shots to the same effect as Lara, I recall Sachin actually punching even the shorter deliveries off the backfoot back down the ground with a straight bat. The lower backlift coupled with an extremely heavy bat is perfect for punching the ball straight and driving in general.

Anyhow Sehwag and Lara's high backlift certainly aids their free flowing strokeplay and its extremely fun to watch.

I think apart from Tendulkar who uses a heavy bat, most stroke players tend to really pick the bat up, Ponting is another one. Viv was different though and had a medium to low backlift, but he was perhaps one of the strongest hitters of all time, freakishly strong really. Yuvaraj really picks the bat up aswell.

I see too much of coaches telling kids to lower their backlifts when really it should be encouraged if it comes naturally to you, especially in the modern cricket age.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Hundreds of people have had really high backlifts - Saeed Anwar's was almost a carbon-copy of Lara's; Graham Gooch had an incredibly high backlift and a very heavy bat; Gilchrist like Lara and Anwar had a very wristy left-handed high backlift (he lagged miles behind the grace of either of them mind).

Those are just a few examples. Really high backlifts aren't that unusual, they're a great way to manufacture power if you can't lift a terribly heavy bat.
 

slowfinger

International Debutant
Yes, interesting, and if you compare it to someone like Paul Collingwood, it seems huge.

Yet Collingwood just uses timing and still get alot of runs but Sehwag it known for big hits and Collingwood isn't, Why? Momentum, you can't generate as much powerwith a low backlift but on the good side it is useful against really fast bowlers who bowl at you , so you can just play without having to cover more ground. Interesting though Sehwag can still hit fast bowlers which for me shows that he has got a good eye, but sort of tells me that he guesses when to hit it, or is it just that his timing is so good?

On a low, dead sub-continent wicket though a high backlift is much more rewarding as you can never score runs with a low backlift, whic just shows why Sehwag can always hit some really big sixes even on dead tracks.
 

mohammad16

U19 Captain
Yes, interesting, and if you compare it to someone like Paul Collingwood, it seems huge.

Yet Collingwood just uses timing and still get alot of runs but Sehwag it known for big hits and Collingwood isn't, Why? Momentum, you can't generate as much powerwith a low backlift but on the good side it is useful against really fast bowlers who bowl at you , so you can just play without having to cover more ground. Interesting though Sehwag can still hit fast bowlers which for me shows that he has got a good eye, but sort of tells me that he guesses when to hit it, or is it just that his timing is so good?
Well Sehwag has an incredible eye yes, but we must not under estimate his technique which is hardly talked about. He is incredibly balanced when playing shots and also keeps his head very still. Secondly as I mentioned before, he uses one of the lightest bats around, it certainly helps while playing fast bowlers, and lack of power due to light bat weight is compensated through a high backlift which really comes down hard on the ball.
 

mohammad16

U19 Captain
Hundreds of people have had really high backlifts - Saeed Anwar's was almost a carbon-copy of Lara's; Graham Gooch had an incredibly high backlift and a very heavy bat; Gilchrist like Lara and Anwar had a very wristy left-handed high backlift (he lagged miles behind the grace of either of them mind).

Those are just a few examples. Really high backlifts aren't that unusual, they're a great way to manufacture power if you can't lift a terribly heavy bat.
Saeed anwar is my fav batsmen of all time, his backlift wasnt as high as Lara but yeah it was reasonably high. The thing about Anwar was that he had an angled bat too, coming in from the slips as with a lot of Pakistani players, his angled bat although some say technically incorrect allowed him to flick the ball away from any line with tremendous timing and power.

I have never seen a more glorious player of the wristy flick than Anwar. Effortlessly timing those away for sixes.
 

African Monkey

U19 Vice-Captain
Those are just a few examples. Really high backlifts aren't that unusual, they're a great way to manufacture power if you can't lift a terribly heavy bat.
In NZ you see sh*tloads of batsmen young and old with high backlifts. A number of players in the national side have these high backlifts as well.
 

andyc

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
In NZ you see sh*tloads of batsmen young and old with high backlifts. A number of players in the national side have these high backlifts as well.
Please don't avoid the filter. If you're going to swear just let the filter take care of it.
 

vic_orthdox

Global Moderator
Sehwag has a high backlift, but it is a bit more "traditional" than Lara's, which pointed towards gully. Ponting is the same, although he keeps his hands very close to his body.

Sehwag's is high, but is a very straight one. It allows him to present the full face whenever possible, and helps him keep his head still and his body balanced.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Yeah, and Slater like Lara had an "unnatural" looking backlift, because he kinda jumped when raising the bat.

The likes of Anwar and Sehwag do it far more apparently "naturally" and fluently.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Saeed anwar is my fav batsmen of all time, his backlift wasnt as high as Lara but yeah it was reasonably high.
Well I don't have detailed video footage to hand but when I compared them in 2000, they looked almost identical. Will see if I can at some point re-enact that comparison.
 

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