I have had so many debts along the existence of this blog. This was the case with Borja Golan, Ong Beng Hee, Stewart Boswell, Tarek Momen, and there are still quiet a few around who would deserve more representation on the blog. Often it's not really my fault, there is simply not enough quality stuff to be found on youtube about some players. Thanks to squashtv another debt can be paid now, showcasing finally the mighty skills of James Willstrop's training partner, Indian Saurav Ghosal.
The most characteristic thing about Ghosal is his movement; he is definitely one of the five quickest players* around, but funnily his exceptional speed and explosiveness are coupled with a very square way of moving. Probably lucky us, spectators, as would he be even fluid, we probably wouldn't even see him on the court.
On the other hand I think in the past, even near past, he struggled somewhat with his racket technique: it was slightly too fortuitous, no real structure, no real composure to which he would have stuck.
Don't take me wrong, am not saying there is one ideal way of racket-preparation. But I do believe that every player needs to find the type of backswing that suits his own body-language the best and then execute this backswing consequently whenever possible, in order to gain precision and deception. Just think for example of Karim Darwish, Ramy Ashour, Simon Rosner, Borja Golan or Tom Richards, all so different in their ways of preparing for a shot, but all so characteristic, specific to them as well. Making your backswing neutral - nearly the same for the different kinds of shots - is one of the key features to enable great deception.
Well, Ghosal has shown great progress in this regard too, first at the 2012 Canary Wharf Classic, where he almost beat James Willstrop, and then at the 2012 British Open where he gave a very severe lesson to Marwan El Shorbagy (see a few examples in the below video) and made Peter Barker work very hard for his money.
In any case, we look forward to see the best Indian player move up the rankings and get the opportunity to showcase his unique style more and more on the blog.
* I would say the top five in this regard are: Miguel Angel Rodriguez, Tarek Momen, Gregory Gaultier, Amir Athlas Khan and Ghosal himsel