In any sport, fans always tend to admire unique and unorthodox stuff. In cricket also, there is no exception. Cricket fans have always loved and enjoyed when they saw cricketers doing something out of the blue.
Lets take a look at 5 such unorthodox batsmen who revolutionized the very outlook of batting :
1) Mushtaq Mohammad / Hanif Mohammad – Reverse sweep
Every cricket fan is aware of with this particular shot reverse. We often see it being implemented by various players and has become one of the most commonly used tools by batsmen to fool their rival fielders and bowlers.
For those who don’t know about its origin, the shot has been tracked back to the 1970’s. It is claimed that the Pakistan batsman Mushtaq Muhammad used to play the reverse sweep extensively. It is also said that his brother Hanif Mohammad was actually its inventor. Though it is not clear yet which of the Mohammad brothers should hold the patent for the shot, the reverse sweep found its way into modern day cricket….
2) Kevin Pietersen – Switch Hit
When Pietersen first attempted the switch hit off a Muttiah Muralitharan in a home series against Sri Lanka, the world was just taken by amaze as to how can a right handed batsman, can suddenly reverse his entire stance, take the position of a left-hander in such a short time and hit the ball ?
This has to be the most freakish shots ever discovered in the history of cricket. A brilliant thinking from KP which leaves both the bowler and the fielders awestruck. No one can really have any kind of planning if a right-hander suddenly decides to be a left-hander. The unique quality of the switch hit makes it the most unorthodox shot invented till now.
3) Douglas Marillier – Scoop
The Zimbabwean all-rounder was the first cricketer to play this shot in an away series against India. The scoop, also known as the ramp shot, paddle scoop and dilscoop has been regularly used by batsmen, especially in T20 cricket against yorkers and short deliveries. A very clever yet brave thinking on Marillier’s part, which involves a considerable amount of risk but targeting a position in the field where the opposition can hardly place a fielder. Moreover the shot uses the pace and bounce delivered by the bowler and the batsman just has to be subtle while playing it.
An improvised version of the shot Dilscoop, pioneered by Tilekaratne Dilshan also grabbed eyeballs during its inception.
4) Sachin Tendulkar – Upper Cut
Little Master Sachin Tendulkar developed this authentic shot which reflects his sheer elegance. A very clever technique derived by him to use the pace and bounce generated by a bowler against the latter only. It can be can be seen as a mode of attacking without actually attacking and the outcome is either a six or four and in some unfortunate cases, an out! This could only come from the brain of the greatest batsman on this planet.
The shot has been widely promoted by his opening partner and teammate, Virender Sehwag.
5) AB de Villiers : Mr. 360
An absolute genius and a phenomenal batsman of modern day cricket, there is not any cricketing shot in this planet which he cannot afford to play. If there was a scale to measure the level of innovation and creation , AB would definitely top that list. He first showed the world a reverse sweep can be played against a yorker ! Widely known as Mr. 360 as he can play shots to all parts of the ground in all directions.
May be in the upcoming days, he will invent a different shot which will give us the chance to write about.