'MS Dhoni used a bat as heavy as the one Sachin Tendulkar played with,' says SG Managing Director Paras Anand
There are quite a few ardent cricket fans who know that Sachin Tendulkar used the heaviest bat in the Indian team, for that matter in international cricket. On Tuesday, SG (Sanspareils Greenlands) Managing Director Paras Juny Anand revealed that former India captain MS Dhoni also used to play with a bat which was as heavy as the Sachin Tendulkar used.
In a live chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda’s Facebook page, Anand said -
“Sachin used to play with a bat which was heaviest earlier, and then it was MS Dhoni...if you go back 3-4 years, Dhoni was using a similar weight to what Sachin was using," he said.
MS Dhoni, however, has reduced the weight of his bat and currently plays with a 1250 gram willow. Anand reasoned that players tend to start their career with a heavy bat and then reduce the weight with time owing to changes in reflex and technique brought about by age.
While heavier bats can send the ball a long way, a batsman needs to have spot the ball a fraction of second early to bring the heavy blade down in time.
The bats of current players are not as heavy as MS Dhoni’s: Anand
When asked about the bats used by members of the current Indian team, Anand added that most of them, including captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma, have shifted to lighter bats.
“ They use [a bat] anywhere between 1160 grams to 1180 grams...Hardik Pandya is one player, you know, who uses a slightly heavier bat and he uses a bat somewhere around 1220 grams, which is still not anywhere close to the weight that Sachin was using or what Dhoni was using," he added.
No wonder, MS Dhoni finished his career with the fifth-highest number of sixes – 359 sixes in 526 matches – in international cricket.
SG is the largest cricketing equipments manufacturing company in the world. With the main factory located in Meerut, the company produces around three million products annually, including 500,000 bats and between 450,000 to 500,000 balls.
Anand said the members of the Indian team visit their factory at least once a year, particularly before leaving for an international tour. SG currently sponsors around 40 cricketers all over the world and 100 domestic players.