Thread by @KashmiriMonsoon, [Thread] - Analysing @iamfawadalam25's StanceIn this thread I plan to take a [...]

[Thread] - Analysing @iamfawadalam25's Stance

In this thread I plan to take a slightly detailed look at Fawad’s stance and how it has helped him

I’m not a cricketing expert so pls do forgive any mistakes - and feel free to contribute with your own insight

So he starts off w his chest facing the bowler.

I can’t think of many reasons for this

aside from it giving him a clear view of the bowler running in, which can help but he’s begun moving and is in a fairly orthodox position upon release of the ball

So he starts off w his chest facing the bowler. I can’t think of many reasons for this aside from it giving him a clear view of the bowler running in, which can help but he’s begun moving and is in a fairly orthodox position upon release of the ball

It also saves him having to strain his neck from the get go, so I guess he’s more comfortable with his starting position.

A few people have mentioned that it does confuse the bowler, as they begin to question where they should bowl to him, because it is quite baffling at first.

Funnily enough, if you go a few years back, his starting position was never this extreme

so it has evolved over the years

He’s in a normal(ish) batting position by the time the bowler releases the ball as seen here.

So anyone who says his shuffling is problematic is wrong imo, because he only shuffles before the ball is released and is in a set position upon release

Picture from NZC

Now there’s not much else I can highlight here, except that this is a movement that must be natural to him and it somehow helps him. But what comes next is interesting imo

Now I’m not sure if many are familiar with the ‘planting of the foot’ - it’s a big issue Azhar Ali has on the recent England tour. He’d plant his foot, it would get ahead of his bat and he’d be given out LBW. It happened A LOT

Picture from Pakistan Cricket Youtube

@nassercricket highlighted it and I found it v insightful. Abid Ali (the opener) addressed this issue by moving his front foot back, to ensure it didn’t get in the way.

Fawad is lucky in the sense that he doesn’t really plant his front foot, so in a way, negates the LBW.

Negate is a strong word, he makes it less likely to occur imo. This is because his front foot isn’t in a position where it can get in the way that easily

However, we did see him get out via LBW to Chris Woakes, so it can still happen

He was hit on the back pad, and imo it was a matter of not judging the ball properly and/or not getting the bat down in time. Not necessarily due to his stance

Picture from: SkySportsCricket

A @cricvizanalyst study, however, shows that in the past 5 years, 48% of his pace dismissals in FC have come via LBW. Average around that time being 15%

I did my own limited research, taking the last 2 years into account and didn’t limit it to any specific bowler type -

25 FC matches (since Sep 2018)
34 innings batted

Mode of Dismissal
LBWS - 5
Caught - 14
Run Out - 2
Stumped - 0
Bowled - 8
Not Out - 5

What i found was that 4 out of 5 of those LBWs were against Right Arm Pace/Medium bowlers. So that is something worth looking at

especially against a potent NZ attack containing Southee/Jamieson

But do bear in mind that this is a much smaller sample size than the CricViz

Another thing I’ve noticed is that Fawad barely plays drives.

You’re not gonna see a Babar Azam-esque cover drive from him.

Picture from NZC

You’ll see backfoot punches, cuts/pulls (I have seen him play a straight drive before though but even that looks different as he doesn’t move forward much)This could be down to him not planting his front foot and isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing.

He doesn’t really put as much weight on his front foot, and as a result is more effective in playing his pulls/cuts and you’ll notice that it seems he’s putting a lot of effort...

...into these shots. On top of this I don’t think he sweeps the ball much (any more)

So it’s down to his ability as a batsman to judge the ball and play the correct shot. I think that may be a worry for some against NZ, as he may not judge the bounce and end up edging one...

...but we have to wait and see iA

This did happen with the Dom Bess dismissal in the 3rd test imo. A test in which, incidentally, he began to look quite confident against Archer/Woakes etc. before his untimely dismissal

Why does this matter? It kinda doesn’t. Does he score runs? Yes. Does he know where his off stump is? Yes. So it can be an ‘ugly’ stance but if it works, it works...

He might have some flaws, but w a batting coach who believes in him and his mindset - Fawad can overcome them iA

And that’s how I want to end this thread. His stance works for him. It’s worked on an array of pitches against a variety of bowlers.

So it doesn’t matter how he accumulates runs, it’s the fact that he does. And InshaAllah I hope he does against NZ too

@iamfawadalam25 I'm a big fan and apologise if my thread was too harsh

Allah sap ko hamesha khush pur kamyaab rakhe. And may He grant you and the entire team success in the upcoming test series

If you ever wanna discuss your stance, let me know

Also @BLACKCAPS, @TheRealPCBMedia, @SkyCricket - if there are any image rights issues, please do let me know and pls don't report me

Finally, I'm no expert - so if anyone wants to input/disagree, feel free to. Respectfully of course!

Thanks for reading!!!

And a massive thank you to @hazharoon, @M_Siddiqi2000, @CricCritic2, @qxvsm_, @Qalanadar2 and others who helped me in constructing this thread

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