A good batsman must have good hand-eye coordination, reflexes, strength, speed, and sound judgment. Playing scoring cricket shots can be difficult, especially when you don’t know the appropriate shots to use in specific circumstances.
In order to help you out, we’ve come up with 5 cricket shots that you simply need to know. Learning and practicing these various shots and when to use them, will go a long way to improving your game and helping you score more runs.
#1 – Frontfoot Defensive
Not every shot in cricket can be a scoring shot. When a ball is well bowled, use a forward defensive shot to avoid being called out. The batsman should block the ball with a forward defensive shot by taking a long step forward. This shot is played to a ball of a good length or slightly fuller. If this defensive shot is not played the ball would hit, or pass very close to the stumps.
#2 – Backfoot Defense
This shot has to be played by moving back on your back leg and waiting for the ball and then pushing the ball down on the ground. This shot is played to a ball of a good length or slightly shorter that would otherwise hit, or pass over the top of the stumps. When facing a fast bowler a back foot defense shot is an important element to avoid being called out
#3 – Straight drives
This shot is hit straight back to the bowler, either with power or sheer timing, so this shot requires a lot of practice. It can be hit either in the air or on the ground. It is one of the most common shots and usually the first one learned by cricket players. Depending on the direction the ball travels, this shot can be referred to as a cover drive, off drive, straight drive, on drive, or square drive.
Sachin Tendulkar was famous for his trademark straight drive shot, and Saurav Ganguly was synonymous with the cover drive, while Rahul Dravid played an excellent square drive.
#4 – Sweep shot
A sweep is a cross-batted front foot shot played to a low bouncing ball or slow full toss. It is played by sweeping the ball around to the leg side, typically towards square leg or fine leg. This shot is great to use against spinners. When you see a low-bouncing ball on the leg side, go for the sweep shot.
#5 – Leg Glance
This shot relies on the speed of the bowled ball as opposed to the power of the hitter. A front foot leg glance is best used to play balls delivered off to the leg side.
Why don’t you pack your kit right away and get to try these shots out? Don’t wait! Go ahead and book your favorite venues on the PLAYO app.
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