New Delhi,June,14: The doors of Barbados cricket slammed on Aaron Jones because, as the story goes, he batted too slow and didn’t fit the new-age white-ball hitter mould. Half a decade later, turning up for the USA, he helms the six-hitting charts of the World Cup, with 13 blows over the ropes, in three games. The fellow residents of the top-five six-hitters club are identical to him—none belong to the elite six-hitting league; all are distant from the T20 batting cream, all are mavericks with wildly fluctuating form. But one uniform and often devalued gift unites them all—the ability to generate muscle-bursting power into the shots, and clear the ropes.
On lethargic, sluggish surfaces of the West Indies and America, muscle has outmuscled touch. Batsmen resorting predominantly on timing rather than brawn—most batsmen rely on both components, only the degrees varies—have found that sixes, the money shot in the modern game, are not rolling off the bat as frequently as they used to. The programmable six-hitting machine of this era, Rohit Sharma has struck one in every 13.75 balls; Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson have yet to open the six-hitting registry; Mitchell Marsh (per 18.3 balls) and Babar Azam (per 29) have mustered just three apiece; Suryakumar Yadav only two in the 61 balls.
