High Street Cricket

If you are good at books plus you are street smart then you can deal with your life in a better way. Especially in sports you need to be street smart, you need to venture out on the streets and face any opposition without thinking too much about it. Today was this day for Ira !

Due to lockdown, we had enough cricket on the terrace ,so finally we decided to go out and play cricket on the ground. Just to avoid the crowd, we went very early in the afternoon. After an hour of play, I was soaked in sweat without having any success against her. Later, a few guys joined and I happily passed the ball to them. The only thing which I told them was to hit her on pads as I wanted to see how her feets were moving on the leg side.

One of them was bowling really fast, I calculated his speed and it came out anywhere between 97 to 105 KM/Hour which she has to face in less than 0.6 seconds - She did this confidently. For her age group , bowlers bowls around 60 to 65 KM/hour with reaction time of around 1 second. This, 0.4 seconds, difference is huge.

Another surprise, two of them were ambidextrous , they were bowling with both hands. I was surprised and so was Ira - I told her, welcome to street cricket.

#fitnesswithMithali #sweepshot

Sweep Shot - I played only once during my playing days !

For all good reasons, we Indians don't feel the need to play sweep shots as most of the players can play well against spinners. So this particular shot always gets sidelined during the practise session and when the kids grow up, it is very hard for them to master this shot. As per my estimate, if you play 100 hours of cricket, then 90% of these hours are spent on playing drives and the remainder 10% is spent on playing other shots. 

When I played my first and the only one sweep shot, I remembered I did as if I had swept the floor. Ditto, that knowledge was transferred to Ira too. I ask her to sweep the floor..

Judge Line of the Ball !

If you are a cricket fan then you would remember the 2004 test series played between India and Australia, when Sachin Tendulkar was consistently getting out on the offside. When he walked out to play test match in Sydney, he decided that he will not play any shots on the off side , period !

He scored 241 runs in that test match without a single stroke on the off side, such was the display of his self restraint, super natural will power and monk like patience to keep himself away from his favorite shots - off drives ! One of the things, which you learn from this test match is that a batsman should know his off stump clearly and if he does that then he knows when and where to hit or to even leave the ball at his will !

When I started training Ira , one of the examples which I have always shared with her was the above Sachin's innings and the importance of knowing the off stump. While, Ira didn't bothered too much as she really never thought of leaving the ball and her goal was always to go ahead and hit the ball. So, I have to use some other tricks in order to train her eyes and brain to judge the line and how she can disciplined to leave the ball, if needed. The attached video is something, which we have worked on in her initial stages to develop the eye for line of the ball. Have a look and become a strong player, who can either hit or leave the ball as per his will and wish ! 

Cheers !

Sachin

Play with closed eyes - Balance , Visualization and Imaginary ball line...

While I am not yet a certified or even a professional cricket coach, however stuff like below will help me and my daughter to reach to the professional level.. Watch the video, its about how your brain is able to process so much of information that you can play the ball with even closed eyes.. Likeminded people, please subscribe to the channel !