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T20 cricket has evolved with the change of time. It’s not only strategies, shot play and variations in bowling which has changed over a period of time, but bat selection is also a key aspect to look into in this evolution.
While star India cricketer Virat Kohli, who has been back to his usual hitting self, uses bat that weighs between 1.1-1.23kg and is made of Grade A English willow, one of the hard hitters of T20 cricket in Chris Gayle has played some explosive innings with a bat having a large bow, light pickup with edges stretched to 40mm.
Looking closely to legend MS Dhoni’s bat, he has his own line of bats called the Spartan MSD 7 Limited Edition. The star finisher who has guided several Indian players during his stint in IPL & the Indian cricket, has made some suggestions for all-rounder Hardik Pandya and wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant.
These two Indian cricketers who are seen playing with curved bat bottom has been one major suggesting from the former India captain. Dhoni feels that these curved bats can aid power-hitting for these middle-order batters.
Paras Anand, Managing Director of leading sports equipment manufacturer Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) in conversation with Times of India stated, “It was Dhoni who had first started using such kind of bat before the 2019 World Cup. And now these Indian players have started asking for this kind of bat”.
“These bats are ordered specially for shorter formats”, added Anand. “A bat with a flat bottom prompts a relatively closed stance whereas the round-bottomed bat enables them to have more open stance”, he explained in his conversation with TOI.
Talking about the performances of the two Indian players in ongoing marquee tournament, Rishabh Pant hasn’t featured in India’s either of the T20 World Cup 2022 games, while Hardik Pandya scored 40 off 37 deliveries and took three wickets in his four-over spell against Pakistan. He only bowled an over conceding 9 runs against Netherlands in India's second fixture.
