CRICKET BATTING- ALL TYPES OF CRICKET SHOTS THAT YOU SHOULD MASTER: WITH VIDEO

Cricket is a complex and skill-demanding sport and in that, batting is the most skill-required area. One of the reasons for the complexity of batting is the number of cricketing shots that each cricketer needs to master to become an expert batsman.

The number of shots in batting is unlimited and it is not possible to clearly define and name each shot used in batting because nowadays each player is trying to find a new way to make the ball cross the boundary and score runs. It is the introduction of limited-overs cricket that lead to this change in cricket. 

In this article, we are going to discuss about the most important cricketing shots that every cricketer should master irrespective of their batting style and technique in order to have a strong base in batting which will eventually help you to take your batting to the next level. 

TYPES OF BATTING SHOTS IN CRICKET

Depending on the way the bat is swung cricket shots can be divided into two categories this categorization is only used to classify the orthodox batting shots in cricket.

1)Vertical Batting shots: When a shot is played in a way that the bat is swung vertically at the ball then it is a vertical batting shot. Vertical batting shots are mainly used to defend or drive the ball. These shots can either be played at the front foot or at the back foot.

2)Horizontal Batting shots: When a shot is played in a way that the bat is swung horizontally at the ball then it is a horizontal batting shot. These shots are also called cross bat shots. Most horizontal shots are used to deflect the direction of the ball to the boundary. These shots use the pace of the ball to make it cross the boundary.  

The horizontal and vertical shots are orthodox shots but there are some other shots that don't fall under both these categories they are known as unorthodox cricket shots. These shots were discovered(were used more often) after the beginning of limited-overs cricket in order to easily make the ball cross the boundary so that more runs can be scored in less balls. 

TYPES OF VERTICAL BATTING SHOTS IN CRICKET

1) DEFENSIVE SHOTS

A defensive shot is played to stop the ball from moving so that it will not hit the stumps or the body of the batsman. These shots are mainly used to defend the balls that are difficult to be driven towards the boundary but can potentially cause a wicket loss by hitting the stumps or can lead to lbw by hitting the pads. 

But if a ball is difficult to be driven towards the boundary and it has pitced or is traveling outside the line of off stump then such balls are left.

Defensive shots are played with soft hands because the only intention of these shots is to just stop the ball. Depending on the foot on which these shots are played it can be classified as follows:

 a) Forward or front foot defense: A defensive shot played on the front foot is called a forward defense. It is played when the bounce (height at it reaches the batsman) of the ball is below the thigh level of the batsman.

b) Backward or back foot defense: A defensive shot played on the backfoot is called a backward defense. It is played when the bounce of the ball is above the thigh level of the batsman.

2)DRIVE SHOTS

A drive is the most common shot in cricket. In drive, the bat is swung vertically in the line of the ball to hit the ball towards the boundary or gap to score runs. The drive is a modification of a defensive shot with a nice follow-through. 

A drive with a high follow-through is called a lofted drive because it can make the ball pass above the fielder or boundary. Based on the direction in which the ball travels, drive shots can be four types :

a) cover drive: the ball is struck towards the cover fielding position.

b) off drive: the ball is struck towards the mid-off position

c) straight drive: the ball is struck straight past the fielder.

d) on the drive: the ball is struck between the stumps and mid-on area.

All these drive shots can be played on both front and back foot depending on the height of the ball bowled.

3) LEG GLANCE

When the ball is flicked towards the leg side (towards deep fine leg) using the pace of the ball with some wrist work then such shots are called leg glance. It can be played on the front and back foot depending on the height of the ball bowled.

4) FLICK SHOT

When a full-length delivery is flicked towards the leg side, mainly between mid-on and square leg region with the help of wrist work and pace of the ball then such shots are called flick shots. The shot is played similar to an on drive but when the ball makes contact with the bat then the bat is angled towards the leg side. This shot is also called the clip off the legs.

TYPES OF HORIZONTAL BATTING SHOTS IN CRICKET

1)CUT SHOT

It is a cross-batted shot played to deflect the ball towards the point field position or behind the point towards the third man. It is mainly played when a short ball is bowled outside the line of the batsman's body. The cut shots are often played on the backfoot and infrequently on the front foot if the ball is slow. There are mainly two types of cut shots they are:

a) Square cut: A square cut is played to deflect the ball towards the point field position. It is mainly played against short-balls bowled wide outside the line of off stump. 

b) Late cut: A late cut is a cut shot played lately. It means that the batsman hit the ball after the ball passes him. In this shot, the ball is hit towards the third man region. A late cut is mostly played on the back foot.

2) SQUARE DRIVE

Even though it is named a drive it is a horizontal bat shot. In square cut and square drive, the bat is swung similarly, the only difference is that the height at which the bat makes contact with the ball. The square cut is played against a ball bouncing near or above waist height and the square drive is played against a ball bouncing below the height of the knee (mainly against a good length ball). While a batsman plays a square drive he also needs to bend his knees according to the height of the ball.

3)PULL SHOT

It is a shot played against a ball bouncing above the waist height. The bat is horizontally swung at the ball to hit it towards the square leg or midwicket. This shot is played on both front and back foot. A perfectly executed pull shot often results in a six.

4)HOOK SHOT

It is a shot similar to the pull shot the only difference in playing this shot is that the hook shot is played against a ball bouncing at or above chest level. A ball is hit towards the area behind the square leg while playing this shot. This shot is also played on both front and back foot but it is mostly played on the backfoot.

5) SWEEP SHOT

A sweep shot is played mainly against a spin bowler. This shot is similar to sweeping. In a sweep shot, a spin ball is swept by kneeling on one knee at the moment, when the ball pitches on the ground. In a sweep shot, the ball is hit to the square leg or fine leg.

UNORTHODOX BATTING SHOTS IN CRICKET

1)REVERSE SWEEP

A reverse sweep is similar to a sweep shot the difference is that the reverse sweep is played in the opposite direction of the sweep shot. So the ball is swept to the offside to the third man or backward point. The reverse sweep is a shot that needs so much practice and experience to execute perfectly. If a reverse sweep is played without having proper training it can easily lead to an lbw. Since it is played by a batsman with the less dominant hand it is very difficult to get enough power to make the ball cross the boundary.

2)SLOG SWEEP

A slog is a pull shot played at a delivery that is not normally pulled to the boundary. In slog, the ball is played to hit it to the boundary to score a six above the mid-wicket area.

A slog sweep is a slog shot played in the style of a sweep shot by kneeling on the ground. It is mostly played against full-pitched balls from spinners (slow bowlers) and the ball is hit above the square leg region of the field.

3)HELICOPTER SHOT

This shot became very famous after MS Dhoni started using this shot very effectively against yorkers. This shot is used to hit even the most difficult yorkers to the boundary with ease. This shot got its name helicopter due to the circular movement of the bat above the head while playing this shot.

4)SWITCH HIT

A shot played by a right-handed batsman is called a switch hit when the batsman changes his stance and handedness to the style of the left-handed batsman during the bowler's run-up and hits the ball. This shots was first played by England batsman Kevin Peterson. The advantage of this shot is that it is easy to hit boundaries when a right( or left) handed batsman changes his playing side because the field was set to defend his normal style of playing.

5)UPPERCUT

It is a shot played when the ball is pitched outside the line of off stump and it has an extra bounce. In this shot when the ball passes above or near the head level of the batsman he lately cut the ball towards the third man region. Sachin Tendulkar is famous for perfectly executing the uppercut.

6)SCOOP SHOT

It is a shot played against a full-length delivery. In this shot, the batsman stands with wide open legs with feet point towards the opposite stumps and with the face of the bat facing the batsman's face and when the ball reaches the batsman it is scooped above him and the wicket-keeper towards the boundary. There are various variations of this shot known as dilscoop, paddlescoop, reverse scoop, etc.