Cricket has witnessed many fluent classic and elegant stroke maker batsmen. But there have been instances when those eyes pleasing shots became their trademark shot and which ultimately made them look perfectly elegant while they played those shots. In the forthcoming list, we are going to have a look at a few players who looked perfectly elegant while batting..
1) Mahela Jayawardene – This player needs no introduction in the cricket world. One of the most technically sound batsmen had been the part of Sri Lankan team for over 14 years. His trademark and closest to perfection shot was “Late Cut”. The Island nation’s son, Mahela can be termed as the Picasso of Cut Shots which were a treat to watch and more often or not he played cut shots while batting.
2) Damien Martyn – Although he is not as big-name as other players in the list as he tended to be overshadowed by other Baggy Green’s big names. But he was like a cricket perfectionist’s dream. A textbook technique which was equally eye-soothing and effective has delivered him over 4000 runs in tests. But among everything, the shot which was his standout shot was “Cover Drive”. Though Martyn could play copybook shots like cuts and Pull with equal effectiveness Cover Drive used to be standout shot for the middle-order batter.
3) Kumar Sangakarra – Probably the best player in Sri Lanka’s cricket history. The classy left-handed batsman remained a perfectly orthodox
batsman throughout his career and had been a master of every type of cricketing shots. With over 28000 runs in his International career, he has been a legend of the game. But like every batsman he also had his trademark shot and that is “Cover Drive”. He used to play this shot quite often and he used to slice the ball so delicately through the covers that it becomes eyes soothing for any spectator.
4) Sachin Tendulkar – The Master blaster had mastered all textbook shots whether it’s Pull, hook, cut or Drive. But the most elegant and smooth shot was his straight drive. Though his cover drive comes quite close in terms of how perfectly he executes it, his classy straight drive remains the standout one. The sweet sound his bat used to produce while hitting the ball was the sweetest sound for cricket fans. He played that shot against all the world-class bowler he had faced and most of the time ticking the level of perfection.
5) Ricky Ponting – The famous legend of Baggy Green who was quite infamous for his on-field run-ins with his opponents and has always carried the typical Australian traditional aggressive approach has been as good as his aggressiveness was. The classy right-hander was a “Pull Shot” perfectionist. The Aussie probably used this shot in almost every match irrespective of the format and had been mostly successful in executing it to perfection. His approach was always aggressive both verbally and with the bat in hand and probably his Pull shot is the culmination to infer the bowler’s confidence in any format of the game.
6) Rahul Dravid – Dravid was another example of “Perfectionist” with the bat. The Wall’s elegance is known to the whole cricket world and his textbook shots were treats to watch. But the shot which he used to play more often or not to perfection was “Square Cut”, to be more specific backfoot square cut. Personally, I’ve not seen anyone playing back-foot square cut to that perfection, and have never seen anyone with such perfect body posture for that shot. The way he used to prepare himself for that shot like putting left leg forward then going to backfoot for gaining the balance and then slashing the ball through the third-man has been pure bliss to watch.
7) Michael Vaughan – Vaughan’s has to be named in any list of elegant batsmen. His Cover Drive was probably the most eye-soothing and technically perfect cover drive of World Cricket. His classy drives have always been appreciated by the cricket fraternity but in the cover drive, he probably mastered that shot. His way of bending little forward and smash the ball towards the covers are probably the most photogenic posture for the copybook shot players and most pleasing in the eyes of cricket fans.
8) Marvan Atapattu – Like any other batsmen, Atapattu too had a trademark shot, which he used to play quite frequently to perfection. His trademark shot was “Cover Drive”, but the former Sri Lankan skipper was a little different type of cover drive. His elbow used to remain a little higher than usual cover drivers, and still, he used to execute the cover drive the best among all other shots. His elegance and class were displayed from that shot which was his patent shot.
9) Babar Azam- Probably this youngster is the best batsman Pakistan has ever produced at least he has shown the glimpses of his ability to become the best Pakistani batsman. Probably the most classy and elegant cricketer of the current generation is a perfectionist when it comes to a textbook followed stroke player. But the shot which exhibits his perfection and class at the same time is “Cover Drive”. In his 4 years career till now he has hardly failed to execute a cover drive to perfection and get the desired result. Currently, he probably displays the most perfect cover drives which are eye-soothing.
10) Vivian Richards – Probably the greatest and the most dangerous ODI batsman of all time will complete this list. Vivian Richards is famous for his versatility while it comes to shot selection. During the 80s and the 90s, it seemed like he is a generation ahead due to his aggressive approach in the game. The shot which he used to play most elegantly is “Hook Shot”. The difference between a hook and pull shot is that in Hook Shot the front leg remains in the air and the ball has to be above the chest height. While in Pull Shot both the feet should be in
grounds and the ball generally remains below the chest height and the direction of the ball can be anything flatter to the grounds or going upwards. Even nowadays also many batsmen tend to duck in an above chest height delivery but Richards on that era used to play that shot so frequently and perfectly that it is considered to be his trademark shot.
