Technicalities like the batting stance or the backlift are an integral part of any batsman's game. When it comes to being stylish or just effective, these technicalities have a big role to play to the extent that batsmen make minor adjustments from time to time to be more effective in certain conditions.
Batsmen with big backlifts usually exude a lot of flair and big-hitting skills. But they may have problems against the yorker of the swinging ball when it comes to bringing their bat down in time. Yet, there have been quite a few fine batsmen who perfected the art of batting with big backlifts.
Here are 5 such batsmen with the biggest backlifts.
1) Graham Gooch
Considered to be the most influential cricketer of the post-war era, Graham Gooch is still remembered fondly as a run-machine. With 8,900 Test runs, he was England's leading run-scorer till the record was broken in 2015.
Starting from his first-class career in 1973, he played on till 2000 excelling as a prolific run scorer.
Sir Ian Botham wrote of him in My Sporting Heroes: “I literally thought Graham Gooch was going to play cricket for England forever. When I started my career he was playing cricket for England, when I finished my career he was playing cricket for England and each time I pick up a microphone to commentate these days, I half expect to see Andrew Strauss walking out to bat with “Goochie”..."
Gooch had an unorthodox batting stance with a very pronounced and exaggerated backlift. He was brilliant against both pacers and spinners with his innings when he achieved his highest score of 333 against India in 1990 still fondly being remembered today.
2) Brian Lara
Very few cricket fans would deny that Brian Lara was the most stylish batsman to have ever played the game. Famous for his big backlift and backfoot shuffle in the crease, Lara's style was accentuated by his movement in the crease which gave him more time to play his strokes.
Whether a straight drive or an expansive manoeuvring of the wrists to flick the ball away on to the leg side, to witness Lara in full flow was to experience sheer poetry in motion. Popularly known as 'The Prince', he is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest batsmen to have ever played the game.
With the likes of Sarwan and Chanderpaul, he also belonged to possibly the last golden generation of West Indian batsmen. With over 20,000 international runs and the only batsman to have scored 400 in a Test match till date, Lara is undoubtedly one of the true modern greats.
3) Lance Klusener
Any cricket fan who has grown watching up cricket in the late 90s can never forget the famous semi-final tie between Australia and South Africa in 1999. There are endless jokes of how South Africa choked and Allan Donald refused to run, but the heroics of one man stands out to this day.
Lance Klusener was the man who shot into the spotlight for almost single-handedly taking his country over the line that day. Much throughout that World Cup, Klusener lit up the tournament through his heroics.
Originally roped in as a hard-hitting bowling all-rounder, Zulu, as he came to be famously known, evolved with a dangerous batsman with a high backlift. Backing away and bringing his bat down from a height like a sword, Klusener could decimate bowling attacks on his day.
4) MS Dhoni
When he first arrived on the scene with long hair and huge backlift, MS Dhoni was a maverick with absolute disregard for the sound technicalities of batting. It would not have been possible to predict back then that he would go on to be one of the most successful captains and devastating batsmen for India in the modern times.
With the captaincy thrust on him surprisingly for the 2007 ICC World T20, Dhoni led the young team in an exemplary manner coming away with the winner's cup. Since then there has been no looking back as he led India to the 2011 World Cup.
For the first few years of international cricket that he played, Dhoni was a fearless batsman who with his huge backlift tried to tonk every ball. His 183 against Sri Lanka at Jaipur is an example of one such innings.
Over the years, Dhoni has slowed down as a batsman and has made a subtle adjustment to his backlift. It was most profoundly noticeable when he played with a shorter backlift against Malinga to counter his yorkers in the 2011 World Cup final.
But time and again, Dhoni with his huge backlift turns back the clock as he goes for his trademark helicopter shot.
5) Vinod Kambli
Slated for greatness, Vinod Kambli only flattered to deceive as his was a story of greatness wasted. Many had predicted back in the 90s that he would be the next great thing in Indian cricket. Things did look good for him as he started stitching out partnerships with Sachin Tendulkar.
With his bandana, earrings and the famous backlift, Kambli defined style as he played his trademark lofted shots. But things went downhill for him as he was bounced out by Courtney Walsh and Kenny Benjamin and suffered a terrible run of form for a brief period. He was then mysteriously overlooked by the selectors and eventually fell out of favour.
The lasting image of Kambli is him being in tears at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata during the 1996 World Cup. Fans, unfortunately, remember him today as being more style than substance as perhaps best summed up by Mukul Kesavan: "He could have tightened up and become a less ambitious, more reliable batsman, but he bet the house on style ... the over-the-top crowd-pleasing on the field..(it) didn't add up to runs on the board."
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