http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 - Levi has become a liability at the top of the order for South Africa (Part 1) - Opinion
Ever since he notched up that swashbuckling ton that left the world astounded, at Hamilton in New Zealand, Richard Levi of South Africa has witnessed a dramatic decline in form. Perhaps it was the overwhelming effect that Levi had on his fans in that brutal
117 off just 51 balls, that saw a flood of expectations coming his way whenever he arrived at the crease. That century went down as the fastest hundred ever in the history of the T20 game and made the achievements of other batsmen such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BB-McCullum-c1129
and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/CH-Gayle-c1221 look insignificant.
It was arguably the finest display of power hitting that the game of cricket has ever seen. Critics of Levi’s game however, would consider Seddon Park in Hamilton, to be a venue where sixes could be peppered with ease. The short boundaries, both square of
the wicket and down the ground, has provided ample opportunities for bashers to make their mark. Ridiculous scores have been posted in the fifty over format at the venue, where the home side even went on to chase 349 against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 in 2007, by batting second.
Similarly, not many would forget how http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Matthew-Lawrence-Hayden-c75233 went on a blitzkrieg against the Kiwi bowlers in the same game, where even one handed shots from the Queenslander, went for sixes. The nature of the ground however, failed to cloud the fact that Levi had
pulled off something quite special, and was considered as a long term, and possibly, a permanent fixture in the T20 format for the Proteas.
Sadly, those expectations are yet to be fulfilled, and after that record breaking century, Levi has yet to contribute for South Africa, in the shortest format of the game. There have been hints of brilliance and scintillating starts, but nothing beyond that.
Part of this can be explained in light of his technical frailties, which tend to go hand in hand with his reckless nature. Levi is often seen getting dismissed, by attempting a poor stroke, in an effort to clear the boundary. He is also not known for his footwork,
where his feet barely move when he is at the crease. He also heavily relies on deliveries to be either bowled full or short to him, in order for him to be truly effective. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754’s bowlers were not exactly known to bowl in the corridor of uncertainty
in the game when Levi went berserk, which is probably one of the reasons, why he rewrote history. Yet his recent form has shown that against a more potent bowling attack, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Richard-Levi-c2315 looks less than ordinary and is fallible to outlandish pressure.
It is thus, surprising that South Africa have persisted with him in the recent T20 encounters against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 and even before that. Flashbacks of him perishing to the new ball, surfaced during the recently concluded Indian Premier League. Levi was billed
as one of the players who could ignite stadiums all across http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, Levi’s poor form in the IPL, had
a spillover effect at the international level where he couldn’t even middle the ball, let alone replicate his heroics at Seddon Park.
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