Adithya asked one of the ultimate questions for batters;

"Please teach me how to select the right shot in cricket."

Thus may seem a perfectly valid question with a sensible answer like "if you get a half volley on off stump, drive it straight". Simple.

All good in theory, but how many times have batsmen at every level selected the wrong shot: A cut too close to the stumps, a drive that wasn't on or a hook that ended up in deep square leg's hands?

This is because shot selection is much more difficult than the textbook suggests. You have to take into account pitch and ball conditions, bowler speed and skill and even your own score.

Then you have to process all this information in the blink of an eye as the ball hurtles in your direction at anything up to 150kph.

It's something that becomes an unconscious reaction in the best players. They don't think about it, they just do it.

And they have achieved this level of skill not by being taught the way to select the best shot.

They did it by facing thousands and thousands of balls, developing a blueprint of recognising a ball then responding to it correctly.

That means no one can teach you how to select the right shot.

Sure a coach can advise you on the tactical approach, and can make sure you work on certain shots in practice sessions with throwdowns, but in the end it's down to you to work it out.

You can speed up the process by following the instructions in Michael Bevan's Shot Selection online course, but the bottom line is that it's all you building up your database.

It's as simple, and as complex as that.