A List of few Game-changing batting strokes in modern cricket. Cricket has always been a game that stayed true to its roots and not much innovation has been brought into the game; starting from the length of the pitch to the norms and rules of the game has had very little changes since its inception. However, coming of the T20 format has marked a new age in cricket as it unleashed an era of new types of rules and changes in cricket. The Twenty20 format has revolutionized cricket in more a way- change in games rules, technological innovation which took the game out of the field to people’s smartphones via Fantasy cricket and so on. Therefore, with this new age in cricket the players themselves are now susceptible to a lot of changes and an increase in competition. The T20 premier leagues have transformed the game from being a prolonged and slow competition to a limited and fast paced one. So to adjust with this fast pace of the game, the players are now constantly experimenting and bringing out new innovations, especially in terms of batting. Let us now explore some of the signature strokes invented by some of the pioneering batsmen in the modern day cricket. Helicopter Shot -Mahendra Singh Dhoni We cannot start discussing batting strokes without talking about MS Dhoni’s impeccable ‘Helicopter Shot’. The Helicopter Shot signals Dhoni's brute power coupled with amazing wrist work and bat speed. The shot helps MS counter yorkers, traditionally considered the safest deliveries during the death overs. This Shot is an absolute beauty and is the trademark shot of MS Dhoni
Upper Cut - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag Those who advocated this shot happens to be two of the greatest batsman of the Indian Cricket Team- Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag . This shot was first played in a Test by Sachin Tendulkar where his opening partner was Virender Sehwag. The former used this shot to tackle the bounce of Makhaya Ntini and Nantie Hayward. Both Sachin and Sehwag scored centuries in the first innings of this Test, and the upper cut -- or upar cut in Hindi -was widely used by both batsmen in the Indian Premier League.
Paddle Sweep – Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir Cricket fans will remember Sachin playing this shot to counter Shane Warne in the 1998 ODI tri-series at Sharjah. In the T20 era, many batsmen have tried this shot to take advantage of gaps near fine-leg. Gautam Gambhir, another good player of spin, also mastered this stroke and plays it regularly in the IPL.
Dilscoop- Tillakaratne Dilshan, Rohit Sharma, Brendon McCullum The Dilscoop aka ‘ramp shot’ was perfected by Srilankan player, Tillakaratne Dilshan during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 though he first played it in the IPL as he told reporters in Mumbai on March 9. The basis of the stroke is to go on one knee to a good length or slightly short of length delivery off a fast or medium paced bowler and 'scoop' the ball over the wicket-keeper's head. It is one of the most innovative and difficult strokes to play.
Reverse Sweep – AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell This is also a weapon to unsettle a spinner especially the likes of R Ashwin and R Jadeja. The two most dangerous players in world cricket in the shortest format -- de Villiers and Maxwell -- use this shot when the off-side field is up inside the circle.
Switch Hit - Kevin Pietersen, David Warner While it may look similar to the reverse sweep, in this shot the batsman purposely plays the ball in the air by switching from his usual stance.Also known as Alti-palti in Hindi, Pietersen first mastered this stroke.The shot had initially generated debate in the cricket world, some heralding it as an outstanding display of skill and others arguing that if the batsman changes stance he gains an unfair advantage over the bowler.Since the ICC declared it legitimate in 2012, we have seen Warner punish bowlers by using his strong fore-arms.
Hence, these are the three innovative shots created and used by some of the master batsmen of the modern cricket.