Switch it on!

Taken from: iplt20.com

Yo mic check,mic check,yeah here you go,
Nah, hit me over here

Yeah,I heard he got that hot new thing
It's called "Switch"

Let's get it going.
Hey, Hey, turn it over and hit it,
Turn around now, switch
Turn it over and hit it.

What are the lyrics of ‘Switch’ a chartbuster by Will Smith doing on a cricket website? Well, ’switch’ hit is the latest innovation to hit the game and there are talks, debates and discussions going all around about it. In baseball, a switch-hitter bats right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers.

In cricket – it is used when a batsman changes his stance even as a bowler comes in to bowl. The term first came to be used to describe an innovative shot employed by Kevin Pietersen against New Zealand in June 2008. He switch hit Scott Styris for two massive sixes over cover and the long on region. Some purists believe it gives the batsman an unfair advantage as the fields are set for a right handed batsman and when he switches, they all go haywire. While on the other hand, batsmen argue that bowlers too make the change when it comes to bowling slower balls or a googly or a doosra.

The argument has continued as the MCC, cricket’s law governing body, has not made the shot illegal this far. David Warner, who plays for the Delhi Daredevils, is another exponent of the switch hit and recently, when he tried to switch his stance, the on-field umpire Oxenford and Rod Tucker refused to allow him to do so. Umpire Oxenford said, ‘You can't do it because they have to chop and change the field all the time.'Warner says he bats right handed for the last five minutes in the nets and if he could execute his switch hits, he would be able to nullify a bowler bowling the ball that goes away from him and play any ball with the spin rather than against it.

How would it affect cricket? Can you imagine it? Ganguly batting right handed and Sachin batting left handed. It would be like look at oneself holding a bat in the mirror! The world of cricket would be taken by storm, all the lazy elegance that we associate with left-handers will take a beating, and the right-handers will start maneuvering the bowlers as they like! Wow! It does seem like a very interesting innovation but for now we can only hope and wish these players try it out in the IPL and give us a taste of their talent and skill.