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Some interesting trademark shots

Don Sharma

By Don Sharma
in Cricket Talk

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Don Sharma Newbie

Don Sharma

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THE BEAUTY of cricket is that it generates so many interesting facets for discussion. It's appeal is so universal that new ideas constantly spring to life and a thinking cricketer can be so innovative that he will be associated with his new approach, much like any inventor or pioneer, and his name will long be associated with innovation. The subject of this topic is `trademark' cricket and as the topic unfolds we will see how many enterprising cricketers have contributed to the range and repertoire of the game. We have no documents to detail what W. G. Grace's favourite cricketing shot was but he must have been the pioneer of many a stroke being the `father of cricket.' In our times we know that Rohan Kanhai was definitely the patenter of a new cricketing stroke. An apocryphal story goes that Rohan Kanhai who is of Indian origin was actually born Rohanlal Kanhiya and his name was changed to Rohan Kanhai in the West Indies. Anyway Kanhai invented or patented the falling hook shot and he played it to perfection. One recalls listening to radio commentators going into raptures everytime Kanhai played the shot. That particular stroke was also picked up by Alvin Kallicharan (another West Indian of Indian origin) and Kallicharan was also nicknamed as the left-handed Kanhai. It is not very certain who patented the reverse sweep. But cricketers like Mike Gatting and our Kapil Dev suffered badly while attempting this innovative shot. If anybody can claim to have perfected the reverse sweep, it is Zimbabwe's Andy Flower. He is said to have constantly practiced the shot at the nets and it is no wonder that he plays it to perfection. Can anyone assist us in informing who the originator of reverse sweep is? In discussing trademark shots can anyone leave out Sachin Tendulkar. The cricketing genius is surely the pioneer of the paddle sweep and this stroke has become a part of Tendulkar's repertoire not only in the Test matches but also in the one-day games. The shot was first played when bowlers adopted negative tactics bowling round the wicket from wide of the stumps into the rough. However Tendulkar has also fine tuned the stroke to maximum effect using it repeatedly in both forms of the game.
There are other cricketing strokes that can be mentioned here. The Englishmen (was it Boycott or Botham?) countered the scorching pace of the Aussies with a deliberate steer over slips and well short of third man. This shot picked up a number of runs for the Englishmen and was quite frustrating for the fast bowlers.
This reminds me of Sachin and Sehwag's cut over point and thrid man region in the first test against SA in Bloemfontein 01/02.
Ravi Shastri was known for the `chappati shot' where he rolled over his wrists and flipped the ball on the leg-side. The shot is said to resemble the rolling over of a chappati while being baked and Sunil Gavaskar reminds us that it is a favourite shot of youngsters playing in the by-lanes of Mumbai. Krish Srikkanth played a number of shots which confounded the bowlers and there must be any number of other players who patented a particular stroke. Rahul Dravid has a patent flick off his hips which has given him mixed results - boundaries as well as dismissals. The flat batted swat on the leg-side, the delicate leg glance, the exquisite late cut all have come off somebody's blade first and it will be interesting to know if any statistician or cricketophile can tell us the origin of these strokes and who played them first. Among the bowlers we know that Bosanquet is credited with bowling the first googly and Saqlain Mushtaq pioneered the `doosra' or the one that goes the other way for the off-spinner. B. S. Chandrasekhar had something in his armoury that only he could produce and there must be other bowlers who have patented a particular delivery. Who is the originator of the toe crushing yorker which Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis bowl so effectively. Surely the yorker must be a Pakistani patent.
This is an article from The Hindu in 2001. Among the shots that are missing from the article are...
  • Sanath's upper cut over the thrid man region
  • Roy Fredericks'(then BCL) scorching cut over the point...very flashy indeed.
  • Dhoni's peculiar pick-up shot
  • Dougie Marllier/Dilshan's scoop
  • Van der Merwe's 360 degree rotation

..some that I could recollect. Do add other shots that you remember a batsman for.

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Mr. Wicket Newbie

Mr. Wicket

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Tendulkar basically innovated the slog sweep in the 1998 series against Australia. There was another shot he occasionally played that I've seen no other man play, a swivelling leg glance that finished with him standing square on and the ball going almost straight past the keeper. The real Tendulkar trademark for me though is that punch straight down the ground for four past the bowler that looks like an effortless defensive shot. A level of class, timing and grace that almost no other batsman possesses. The Marillier/Dilshan/etc scoop shot was actually played by Ryan Campbell in Australian domestic cricket a long time before either of them played it on the international stage. Campbell was a good keeper/batsman but didn't have the raw keeping skills of Healy or the explosive batting of Gilchrist so never really had much of a chance to show off at the international level.

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Dinx - the Jinx Newbie

Dinx - the Jinx

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Who played the reverse sweep first.. As a school boy I remember ppl talking about Mike gatting playing it very productively int he 1987 WC semis which also led to his demise in the Finals on the same tournament.. It will be interesting to know who came up with the hook shot first (i'm not sure whether it was kanhai.. surely someone must have tried this in the bodyline series or immediately after it).. in an era where there was no protective gears.. playing a hook shot is comparable to tight rope walking.. if you dont connect, you're going to damage your face severely and even if you hit, there is no guerantee that you'll get a 6 or 4. The only reason to play this shot would be to show the short-pitching bowler that you are not afraid of hooking him.. so it would be interesting to find out who would have pioneered it in the first place

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sangrock Newbie

sangrock

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Recently, Sachins over the wicket keeper's head shot ..... I can't find the exact video but this is close enough _-Pw7wj0cOg
Yeah! I first saw him play it on the tour to australia - he did it to johnson and lee couple of times in a test. The first few times, it was so deliberate, I remember Johnson having no idea how to react! :haha: If I am correct, I think, the exact shot you were trying to refer to is the one where the ball bounces more (near the throat-ish area) and SRT just sways and flicks it over the keeper - its absolutely awesome. I have NOT seen anyone else play it before. Please correct me if I am wrong!
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Zelig Newbie

Zelig

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Backside of bat is OUT!
it's not? :omg: motherf- i was swindled off a couple of 50s in my gully :mad:
:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: But how did you manage to hit the ball from the backside of the bat unintentionally:dontknow: You are wicked funny flamy bro.:giggle:
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