http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/ ... india-lack
Glenn Maxwell, Shahid Afridi, Elton Chigumbura, Aaron Finch. What's the answer to this connect-the-dots question?
They are the only four batsmen to score 500 or more runs in T20 internationals at a 150-plus strike rate. Chigumbura isn't as big a name as the other three, but he joined their ranks on Saturday, when his unbeaten 26-ball 54 against India lifted his strike rate from 147.51 to 150.59.
- Elton Chigumbura Is Truly World Class!!!
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Chigumbura hit seven sixes in his innings against India - and only one four - and his method was simplicity itself, based, much like Gayle's, on stillness. Not for him the quicksilver darts around the crease of a Maxwell or an AB de Villiers. Instead, he stood upright, bat up like a baseballer, kept his head as still as possible, and established a stable hitting position with small, decisive foot movements. The only premeditated movements he made were to step out of his crease to the spinners or to step back in his crease against the quicks to give himself a better chance of getting under yorkers or low full-tosses.
As his hitting record shows - not his batting record, which says he only averages 21.25 - Chigumbura's method has worked over 45 matches, against all kinds of attacks. His record against the traditional top eight - all Test-playing opponents minus Bangladesh - is actually better than his overall record.
Had one Indian batsman matched Chigumbura's hitting, they would probably have won at a canter.
But they did not have a Chigumbura in their side. They have never really had one. Applying the cut-off of 500 runs, no Indian batsman has scored as quickly as him, with Yuvraj Singh's 136.95 sitting on top of their strike-rate charts. Lower the cut-off to 200 runs, and only two batsmen, Yusuf Pathan and Virender Sehwag, have scored at a 140-plus strike rate.
India's squad on this tour has plenty of batting quality, but no real T20 hitter. MS Dhoni had the tools to be one in the early part of his career, when T20 was still taking its baby steps, but his T20I record - a strike rate of 121.69, a four every 12 balls and a six every 27 balls - shows he hasn't been one for quite some time. The definition of hitter, moreover, has more to do with approach than ability. Chigumbura's method is based on maximising his six-hitting potential. Dhoni's is based on calculation, hard running, and only really taking high-risk options in the 'slog overs'.
A hitting-centric approach only works in T20, but given how fast the format is evolving, it might become the only approach that works in T20. When that happens, India will need to find a Chigumbura or two.
