The former Indian captain MS Dhoni has reportedly suggested two of India’s power hitters, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant, use round-bottomed bats rather than flat-bottomed ones and while Hardik started using it some time back already, Pant has also started using that bat now.
Pant is currently not a part of India’s regular playing XI in T20I cricket, but after the ongoing T20 World Cup, the left-hander is likely to be India’s first-choice wicketkeeper in all three formats of the game.
In a report published in Times of India, it has been said that Dhoni came up with the idea of a round-bottomed bat in 2019 because of a couple of reasons. On pitches that have slightly low bounce or against bowlers who regularly take the pace off the ball, it is very likely that the batsman would hit the ball with the toe end of the bat while trying to go for the big shots.
If the toe end is round rather than flat, it has got more wood in it and the batsman can impart a bit more force on the ball with a round toe end rather than a flat toe end, just because of a bit of extra wood right at the bottom of the bat.
MS Dhoni has been using the round bottomed bat in IPL too
Another factor that a round-bottomed bat brings into play is that it affects the swing of the bat a little bit as well and for a batsman, it’s a slightly more comfortable swing of the bat with a round-bottomed willow as compared to a flat-bottomed willow.
MS Dhoni has suggested Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant to try round-bottomed bats to improve their T20 game. (Source – TOI)
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It has been reported that MS Dhoni has been using that bat himself for the last three years, while playing for India in 2019, and also while playing for CSK in the IPL. Among the other Indian players, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul are also using the round bottomed bat now.
