Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh all-rounder, was spotted batting while holding a band between his teeth in the first Test match against India at the at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. While many fans wondered what was the reason behind this, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra revealed that it was actually a technique to get his stance and the head position right while batting.
"While (the left-handed Shakib) is in his stance, he keeps pushing his head inwards, almost towards mid-on. Why he's doing this is because somebody must have told him that he can do this to address the problem of his head falling over, which leads to the front foot going in the same direction (towards mid-off). If that happens, then your batting gets disturbed," Chopra, one of the commentators in the India vs Bangladesh Test series, explained.
"So that thread or band he is holding in his teeth is at its peak tension when his head is inwards. He is trying to keep his head as close as possible to his right shoulder so that it doesn't go to the other side, and it helps in keeping the front foot straighter," he added.
"One other thing he has added with this is changing his trigger movement, which normally happens with the feet (while playing a delivery)," the 47-year-old said.
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India Nearing Win In Chennai Test
After giving Bangladesh a target of 515 runs to win, India have managed to reduce Bangladesh to 158/4 before the umpires decided to call early stumps On Day 3 due to bad light. With full two days remaining and Bangladesh still 357 runs away from the target with only 6 wickets remaining, India are firm favourites to go 1-0 up in the series.