Give us LBW when batters miss the switch hit: Ravichandran Ashwin

Indian spin maestro Ravichandran Ashwin has opined that the umpire should give the batter out leg-before-wicket if they miss the shot while playing a reverse sweep.

As per current laws and rules, a batter cannot be given out leg-before wicket if the ball pitches outside the leg stump, even if it hits the stumps, which is deemed the 'blind spot' for batters.

Speaking about the rule on his YouTube channel, the canny off-spinner recalled an incident from the rescheduled fifth Test between India and England and said Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow attempted too many shots but got away with that as the impact was outside off.

"In this game, it was about the approach that Joe Root and Bairstow took. Root played about ten shots, where he turned around completely and attempted the reverse sweep. He played that ten times but didn't connect on 9 of them. On the 10th time, it got the under-edge and rolled away. Bairstow, meanwhile, kept padding the balls away,"

A blind spot in the game refers to a ball that pitches outside the leg stump line and is not visible to the batter while standing in his original stance. For example, in the Edgbaston Test, Root switched from his original stance and stood like a left-handed batter while attempting his reverse sweeps. 

"This is where I have a small difference of opinion. As a bowler, I am informing you that I am bowling left-arm spin from over the stumps, and I have this (leg side) field. You front up to that as a right-hander, but you play that reverse sweep and hit like a left-hander. But when Root does that, he won't be out lbw because of the blind spot. It's only a blind spot when you are at your normal stance. Once you play the reverse sweep and have a left-handed stance, it's no longer a blind spot. It's front on," 

Ashwin explained that he's not against the batters playing the reverse sweep but feels that while attempting the shot, the umpire should give it out if it hits the pad and is found hitting the stumps.

"My question is not whether he can play reverse sweep or not, whether it's negative bowling strategy or not [bowling outside the leg stump], my point is about LBW. It's unfair that it's not ruled LBW. Let batters play the switch hit, but give us LBW when they miss. How can you say it is not LBW when the batter turns? If they start giving that out in all game formats, some parity could be retained between bowling and batting," concluded Ashwin.