Learn How To Play The Best Cricket Shot

Numerous visually appealing strokes in cricket make for an extremely visually appealing game. After some time spent watching cricket, you’ll have an innate sense of what constitutes a good shot. Sometimes, the way the ball goes to the boundary tells you that a shot is excellent. At times, it comes down to the batsman’s body alignment and ability to “hold the pose.” There are moments when the sound the ball makes as it launches off the bat is all that matters! Scroll down to learn how to play the best cricket shot.

Fans of the game rank some cricket shots marginally higher than others, and I’ll share with you my opinion on the greatest cricket shot in this piece. I’ll also talk about a few additional images that, for various reasons, are personal favorites of mine! In addition to teaching you how to play each shot, I’ll also explain why viewers adore them! Now let’s get started.

So, what is the best cricket shot?

The Best Cricket Shot

The majority of cricket players believe that the straight drive is the best cricket shot. Because the batter displays the entire face of the bat towards the bowler and smacks the ball straight back past them, the straight drive is considered one of the most visually beautiful shots in the game. Additionally, the shot indicates a batsman’s superiority over the bowler.

When watching cricket on TV, commentators frequently state that a batsman who is performing well in the straight drive is in good form and has complete control over their technique. I firmly feel that this is the case. A batsman must possess outstanding timing, balance, and hand-eye coordination to play the straight drive. They also need to have good footwork. Although it’s not an easy shot to make, viewers will always applaud when you do it correctly!

The straight drive is a front-foot shot that is played to full delivery, as the image below illustrates. Playing the straight drive pays off because, once you’ve got the bowler beat, it’s doubtful that there will be a fielder on the other side of the field who can stop the ball before it crosses the boundary. Playing the straight drive carries some risk since you run the risk of being out of bowls or leg before wicket if you miss the ball. Furthermore, if the ball is swinging, it can suddenly move away from you, giving you an advantage over the ball!

While I believe that a straight drive is the best shot in cricket, many other cricket enthusiasts could disagree! There are many more timeless photos available, as well as some more avant-garde photos that some individuals like. Some of those are as follows:

1. The ramp shot
2. The uppercut
3. The switch hit
4. The square cut

We’ll go over each of the shots I listed above in detail in the remaining portions of this essay. I’ll tell you which parts of the ground each one targets and what kinds of deliveries to use them against, along with some advice on how to play each one!

The Straight Drive

Where To Hit The Straight Drive

The straight drive is struck straight back past the bowler and down the ground, as I previously stated. To prevent the mid-on and mid-off fielders from stopping the shot, some batsmen prefer to smash the ball in the air. A well-timed straight shot that is hit close to the ground, though, ought to easily defeat these two fielders. Where the shot is hit is depicted in the diagram below!

When Should You Play the Straight Drive?

When the batsman receives a good to full-length delivery on a middle stump or off stump line, it is when the straight drive is best played. Depending on where the batsman is standing, it can also be played against deliveries that are slightly outside the off stump.

How To Play The Straight Drive

To learn how to play the straight drive, do the following:

• Assume your standard batting position and get ready to receive the ball.
• Observe the ball as it makes its way toward you down the field. You can rapidly determine the ball’s length and line by keeping a careful eye on it. Move your front foot forward to where the ball will pitch as soon as you realize that it is full and angled in towards the off stump or middle stump. Keep in mind that if your front foot crosses over to the offside, you will have to play around your front pad with your bat, which increases the likelihood that you will get an LBW
• After planting your front foot, move your head over your front knee and slightly bend it. This keeps the ball on the ground and guarantees that your weight is oriented forward. By the time you finish step 3, you ought to be in a position like the one I’m showing you below.
• Bring the bat down to meet the ball in a great arc once you’re in the aforementioned position. Ensure that the bat’s face is facing the direction you wish to hit the ball, straight down the ground.
• Make sure to keep your front elbow high and your bottom hand relaxed on the bat while you play this shot. This enables you to strike the ball down the field with ease.

The Ramp Shot

Where To Hit The Ramp Shot

One of the most recognizable sights in cricket over the past ten years is the ramp shot, a very inventive cricket stroke.

The ramp shot is typically struck between the third-man and fine-leg fielding positions, hitting behind square on both sides of the wicket. The precise regions that it targets should be displayed in the diagram below!

When Should You Play the Ramp Shot?

The ramp shot is typically used in opposition to quick bowlers. This is because a fast bowler will deliver the ball with considerable pace in the direction of the batsman. The hitter can then easily deflect the ball to the boundary by using the bat. The tempo the bowler initially imparts to the ball determines the speed at which it flies off the bat.

The ramp shot comes in handy when you’re in dire need of a boundary. When there are no fielders on the boundary behind the square on either side of the wicket for the fielding team, it works particularly well. The ramp shot can be used, for instance, to send the ball over the head of the fielding team’s fine-leg fielder within the circle who is attempting to stop a single.

The ramp shot can be played against any ball that is a decent length or fuller, depending on the kind of delivery. Additionally, it facilitates the process if the delivery isn’t very wide. 

Thus, playing the ramp, for instance, calls for a nice-length delivery that is in line with the stumps.

How To Play The Ramp Shot

Take these steps to improve your ramp shot:

• You should first take a standard batting posture and get ready to receive the ball.
• As the bowler approaches the crease, once you are in your batting posture, maintain your eyes on them. Step across to the off side with your back foot to cover your stumps just before they deliver the ball. Turn your body so that your chest faces the bowler directly as you make this move to the offside with your rear foot.
• After turning to face the bowler, slightly alter your grip such that the bat’s face is pointed skyward. You should be in a situation similar to the one I’m demonstrating below after completing this step!
• All you have to do now when you’re in place is rapidly read the line and the duration of the delivery. Use the face of your bat to deflect the ball behind square on the off side or the leg side once you’ve determined where it’s going. Since the fine leg area is the easiest to guide the ball towards, the vast majority of ramp strokes will be aimed towards it. But some also enjoy hitting the ball in the direction of the third man! When hitting for fine leg as a right-handed hitter, your goal should be to divert the ball over your left shoulder. Batters who are left-handed and strike the ball towards fine leg will attempt to divert it over their right shoulder.
• You should slant slightly away from the direction you are trying to hit the ball in as soon as it reaches your bat. This is to prevent you from striking the ball in your own body. 
• Keep in mind that you don’t need to strike the ball hard to make this shot. The objective is to exploit the pace that the fast bowler has already applied to the ball, as I’ve already explained, and just direct the ball with the face of your bat. Flex your wrists slightly as the ball makes contact with the bat if you truly feel like you need a little more power behind the shot. You might be able to hit the ball a little bit farther and escape a fielder if you do this!

The Uppercut

Where To Hit The Uppercut

The uppercut is a shot that is meant to be made from the off side of the field, behind the square. This zone is depicted in the following diagram!

When Should You Play The Uppercut?

Aggressive batsmen often use the uppercut, an attacking shot, to counter fast bowlers. Legendary Indian players like Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar popularized it by using it to score a ton of runs!

The uppercut is often played to balls that are a good way outside the line of the off stump, sometimes known as short balls or back-of-a-length balls (click here to see what back-of-a-length implies). The batsman needs some space to stretch the bat to make contact with the ball and free their arms to perform the uppercut. Playing the uppercut is quite impossible when the ball is tilted toward the body.

When playing this shot, two kinds of field placements could get in the way of you. First among them are fielders who slide and gully. Fielders who cover slip and gully stand near the wicketkeeper, anticipating a catch that comes from an outside edge. Thus, it should be quite easy to play the uppercut and get the ball over their heads if the only fielders in position behind square on the off side are slip and gully fielders.

The second field placement that could give you trouble is if a fielder is positioned on the off-side boundary behind the square. The third man is a common term for this field placement, while “fly slip” is also occasionally used. You will need to use extreme caution when playing the uppercut if the fielding team has a fielder positioned on the boundary in this region. You’ll need to make a snap decision on whether you want to knock the ball over their heads for a six or make a beautiful, soft contact with it so that it lands short of them and presents no opportunity for a catch. If there is a man on the boundary, I like to avoid using the uppercut shot unless I need to make quick rushes!

How To Play The Uppercut

To effectively play the uppercut, use the following actions:

• To receive the ball, you need first take a standard batting posture and become ready.
• Keeping a close eye on the bowler as they approach the crease and maintaining your focus on the ball as it is released from their hand is the second phase.
• As previously stated, to execute the uppercut, you need to wait for a ball that is somewhat wide but not very short. Keep an eye on the ball and allow it to continue on its course toward your upper body as soon as you realize it has landed in the proper spot.
• As I’m showing in the picture below, you should gently arch your back and hold your bat up to play the shot. Using the bat to direct the ball toward the boundary while maintaining its current pace is the goal of the uppercut. This view is one of my favorites since it lets you see the ball to the bat. The ball should be coming into contact with you as it passes by.
• Similar to the ramp shot, getting the ball to the boundary with an uppercut doesn’t need trying to hit it hard. But, I would advise bending your wrists slightly as soon as the ball makes contact with the bat’s surface if you want to add a little extra pace to ensure that it clears the fielder’s head.

The Switch Hit

Where To Hit The Switch Hit

The most unusual shot I’ll discuss in this post today is the switch hit. Legendary England batsman Kevin Pietersen made it famous in the middle of the 2000s after he notably used it against Muttiah Muralitharan! I need to explain a few things about the shot before I tell you the precise location of the field where the switch impacted targets.

The batsman changes their stance before to receiving the ball, hence the name “switch hit.” As a result, when playing the switch hit, a right-handed batsman will take the posture of a left-handed batsman. When playing the switch hit, a left-handed batsman will transition to a right-handed stance. The offside and the leg side also flip when a batter adopts this stance flip! In case you’re unclear, the following diagram ought to clarify my meaning.

Thus, when I refer to the offside as the target of the switch hit, I mean the offside in which the batsman was initially positioned. The region on a cricket pitch that left- and right-handers should aim for when playing the switch hit is depicted in the diagrams below.

When Should You Play The Switch Hit?

Switch hits are “pre-meditated” shots that are typically used to counter-spin bowlers. “Pre-meditated” refers to the batsman’s decision to make the shot before the ball is delivered by the bowler. This indicates that there is no specific delivery style for the switch hit. On the other hand, if you’re going to play the switch hit, the ball you should ideally receive should drop on the stump line and at a decent length.

The majority of professional batters will make their decision to play the shot based on the bowling team’s fielding configuration. Spin spinners frequently bowl in a manner that makes it extremely difficult for batters to knock the ball via the far less protected offside by packing the leg side with fielders. By using a switch hit, a batsman can knock the ball through the off side, where there are fewer fielders, and remove the leg side fielders from the game. This makes the shot extremely successful since it makes the bowler and the fielding captain reevaluate their strategy in addition to offering a viable alternative for scoring runs.

How To Play The Switch Hit

Take these actions to play the switch hit:

• You should first take a standard batting posture and get ready to receive the ball.
• The secret to playing the switch hit is in the second step. You have to rapidly change to the other side of your stance when the bowler is going to deliver the ball. Therefore, a right-handed hitter should change to a left-handed batsman’s foot posture, and vice versa. You should also alter how you hold the bat. 
• Now, with your bottom hand clutching the top of the bat, what was formerly your top hand should become your bottom hand. The most important element is to swiftly change your stance so that when the ball leaves the bowler’s hand, you remain motionless.
• You should be motionless and prepared to receive the ball once more after changing your posture. You should put your front foot forward, collapse your back leg, and execute a sweep stroke or slog sweep, aiming between mid-wicket and backward point, if the ball is on a decent length and hittable.
• Play a defensive shot or let the ball drop if it does not land in an area you believe is hittable.
• If you want to be able to play this shot consistently and correctly, you will need to put in a lot of practice time. You won’t find it easy to switch up your stance and play with your other hand the first few times, I promise! You will be better ready to play the same shot during a match the more times you practice hitting the ball from this position and repeating the motion in the nets. 

I suggest watching the video below if you want to see Kevin Pietersen perform the switch hit!

The Square Cut

Where To Hit The Square Cut

On the offside of the field, the square cut is struck exactly square of the wicket. Usually, it hits either in front of or behind the point fielder (you can find out where the point fielder is by clicking here). The region that batsmen should aim for when playing the square cut is depicted in the diagram below.

When Should You Play The Square Cut?

In all forms of cricket, the square cut is a common offensive shot. Alastair Cook of England has been one of my favorite square-cut users over the years. He used it to put a lot of opening bowlers to death when he opened the innings.

When you receive a delivery that is back of a length or just a little bit shorter, then is the ideal moment to play the square cut. Just enough width should separate the delivery line from the off stump to allow the batsman to freely extend their arms and meet the ball with the bat!

How To Play The Square Cut

Take these actions to play the square cut:

• First, take a standard batting posture and get ready to receive the ball.
• Keep your eyes on the bowler as they come towards the crease. Keep your eyes on the ball to see where it will land once it enters the crease and launch it in your direction.
• The ball must initially land in the short-length area that is somewhat wider than the off stump to play the square cut. As soon as you become aware of this, shift your weight slightly backward until it is centered over your back foot. When the ball reaches you, use a horizontal bat to strike it.
• Try to wait for the ball a little bit longer and play it later if you want it to go behind square on the off side. Try playing the ball a little bit early if you want it to go in front of the square.

It’s simple to just fling our hands at the ball and forget about controlling the shot when we witness a wide, short-length delivery. However, the fielding team will be ready to grab any balls that we hit in their direction if they have a point or backward point fielder in position. Therefore, instead of hitting the ball upwards when practicing the square cut, you might instead want to concentrate on standing tall and striking the ball into the ground! Sometimes you have to take an aerial cut shot, but believe me when I say that there’s nothing more annoying than hitting a square cut that ends up in a fielder’s hands!

Also read, What Is A Backlift In Cricket?