Best Players of a particular shot...

[ramkumar_gr]

Gibbs is a master of pull shots next only to Ponting.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Ponting does have a good case for all legside shots exept the sweep he's not a big sweeper.

For defensive shots I would say Kallis and Dravid..

Agreed.

Best shot resembling a Woods 7 Iron: Lee.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

SRT is the best when it comes to the straigt drives

Everybody is if Tanny Greeg is commentating.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

For mine and I'm not really going on elegance and how good a shot looks but rather it's effectivness.

Cover Drive Front foot : Lara
Cover Drive backfoot : SRT
Cut Shot: Shewag / Gilchrist
Pull / Hook : Ponting
Leg glance : Laxman?
On Drive: Ponting
Off drive: No sure SRT of old used to play it well
Sweep: Lara?
Slog Sweep: Tresco maybe?
General Slog over midwicket: Gilchrist
Best footwork to spinners: Clarke and Lara
Square Drive: hmmmm would have been Martyn I think?
Straight sixes and lofted drives: Flintoff, Gayle, Symonds
Late cut: ????
French cut: Vaughan


And what player do you think has the best trademark shot that they play better than anyone when in full flow?

you are spot on in choosing Gilly for the General slog over midwicket.

I saw him play two such consecutive shots against Colins Obuya the Kenyan spinner in the last WC. the first six went miles over midwicket hit the roof and managed to roll down.
The next six went exactly to the same place and the ball disappeared. I cannot forget the sight. amazing.

 

[Eclipse]

Agreed.

Best shot resembling a Woods 7 Iron: Lee.

haha true... when he hits those massive sixes the sound that comes off the bat is almost metalic, the connection is just so sweet and he really does generate unbelievable bat speed.

 

[C_C]

From the players i've watched :

Cover Drive Front foot : Lara, Dravid,Vaughan ( from what i am told, Sobers was an exponent of this shot)

Cover Drive backfoot : Sachin, Dravid ( i am told that Lawrence Rowe was a master at this shot)

Cut Shot: Shewag, Gillchrist, Jayasurya, Greenidge
Pull / Hook : Alvin Kallicharan, Roy Fredericks, Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Sachin,Viv ( oddly enough, there have been quite a few players who've been exemplary hook players and pullers and IMO, the West Indies batsmen in general were the best at this shot)

Leg glance : Laxman, Greg Chappell, Azharuddin

On Drive: Sachin, Viv,Gavaskar ( I am told that Sobers played this shot excellently)

Off drive: Sachin, Greg Chappell, Rahul Dravid,Matty Hayden, Lara,Miandad

Sweep: Lara, Zaheer Abbass, Miandad
Slog Sweep: Lehmann,Gillchrist
Paddle sweep: Tendulkar
General Slog over midwicket: Gilchrist, Jayasurya
Best footwork to spinners: Lara, Sidhu,Gavaskar,Zaheer Abbass
Square Drive: Martyn, Dravid, Greenidge,Haynes,Lloyd
Short Arm Jab: Sachin, Chanderpaul,Border,Viv,Laxman
Straight sixes and lofted drives: Sachin(for straight sixes), Viv
Late cut: Gundappa Vishwanath, Kim Hughes,Lawrence Rowe ( i was told that the best practitioner of this art, by far, was Frank Worrell)

 

[Eclipse]

you are spot on in choosing Gilly for the General slog over midwicket.

I saw him play two such consecutive shots against Colins Obuya the Kenyan spinner in the last WC. the first six went miles over midwicket hit the roof and managed to roll down.
The next six went exactly to the same place and the ball disappeared. I cannot forget the sight. amazing.

yeah and he plays if well of medium pace bowlers as well.. and he really plays it brilliantly off spinners coming down the wicket.

 

[Eclipse]

From the players i've watched :

Cover Drive Front foot : Lara, Dravid,Vaughan ( from what i am told, Sobers was an exponent of this shot)

Cover Drive backfoot : Sachin, Dravid ( i am told that Lawrence Rowe was a master at this shot)

Cut Shot: Shewag, Gillchrist, Jayasurya, Greenidge
Pull / Hook : Alvin Kallicharan, Roy Fredericks, Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Sachin,Viv ( oddly enough, there have been quite a few players who've been exemplary hook players and pullers and IMO, the West Indies batsmen in general were the best at this shot)

Leg glance : Laxman, Greg Chappell, Azharuddin

On Drive: Sachin, Viv,Gavaskar ( I am told that Sobers played this shot excellently)

Off drive: Sachin, Greg Chappell, Rahul Dravid,Matty Hayden, Lara,Miandad

Sweep: Lara, Zaheer Abbass, Miandad
Slog Sweep: Lehmann,Gillchrist
Paddle sweep: Tendulkar
General Slog over midwicket: Gilchrist, Jayasurya
Best footwork to spinners: Lara, Sidhu,Gavaskar,Zaheer Abbass
Square Drive: Martyn, Dravid, Greenidge,Haynes,Lloyd
Short Arm Jab: Sachin, Chanderpaul,Border,Viv,Laxman
Straight sixes and lofted drives: Sachin(for straight sixes), Viv
Late cut: Gundappa Vishwanath, Kim Hughes,Lawrence Rowe ( i was told that the best practitioner of this art, by far, was Frank Worrell)

I dunno how you can have Sachin as a good hooker and puller.. well okay he is good but there are alot of better players of it than him atm.. and currently Ponting is streets ahead of anyone at that shot and way better at it than Sachin.

Never Seem Dravid play that many good backfoot cover drives, maybe that's just me.

 

[Zinzan]

For mine and I'm not really going on elegance and how good a shot looks but rather it's effectivness.

Cover Drive Front foot : Lara
Cover Drive backfoot : SRT
Cut Shot: Shewag / Gilchrist
Pull / Hook : Ponting
Leg glance : Laxman?
On Drive: Ponting
Off drive: No sure SRT of old used to play it well
Sweep: Lara?
Slog Sweep: Tresco maybe?
General Slog over midwicket: Gilchrist
Best footwork to spinners: Clarke and Lara
Square Drive: hmmmm would have been Martyn I think?
Straight sixes and lofted drives: Flintoff, Gayle, Symonds
Late cut: ????
French cut: Vaughan


And what player do you think has the best trademark shot that they play better than anyone when in full flow?

Yeah thats right Eclipse nearly all Aussies

 

[Zinzan]

I have to be biased and say Stephen Fleming for the front foot straight drive along the ground.

For sure

 

[Eclipse]

Yeah thats right Eclipse nearly all Aussies

I tried not to be biased but I see more of our players and we have arguable the best batting line up in the world so it's not a real supprise.

Also when you have greats in you're team like Ponting and Gilly they are going to occupy a few spots. Tell me what you disagre with?

 

[C_C]

I dunno how you can have Sachin as a good hooker and puller.. well okay he is good but there are alot of better players of it than him atm.. and currently Ponting is streets ahead of anyone at that shot and way better at it than Sachin.

Never Seem Dravid play that many good backfoot cover drives, maybe that's just me.

First, i am talking with entire careers in perspective, not just 'lately'.
Sachin's hook shot is massively underrated ( it isnt standout superb but in the top 5 of his era) and his pull shot where he simply stands tall, does a little pirouette on his backfoot toe and the ball races away has gotto be the best pullshot i've seen in the game. Viv's comes close in terms of its brutality but IMO no one plays it as elegantly as Sachin does.

 

[Eclipse]

First, i am talking with entire careers in perspective, not just 'lately'.
Sachin's hook shot is massively underrated ( it isnt standout superb but in the top 5 of his era) and his pull shot where he simply stands tall, does a little pirouette on his backfoot toe and the ball races away has gotto be the best pullshot i've seen in the game. Viv's comes close in terms of its brutality but IMO no one plays it as elegantly as Sachin does.

Well i've seen him play it very well but never on bouncy pitches or against really quick bowlers.

last tour here he looked very awkward trying to hook Lee on alot of occasions..

and over there carears he has never played it as well as Ponting or for that matter a few others.

 

[C_C]

Well i've seen him play it very well but never on bouncy pitches or against really quick bowlers.

last tour here he looked very awkward trying to hook Lee on alot of occasions..

and over there carears he has never played it as well as Ponting or for that matter a few others.

For a perfect example of Tendulkar's elegant pull, watch the shot he plays to move from 21 to 25 against RSA in bloemfontein test last tour ( the bowler was Kallis)

And who are these 'few others' ?
Ponting has improved a fair bit but to be frank, the only outright fast bowlers he's had some semblance of success pulling has been against the Pakistani and South African pacers.
Tendulkar on the other hand, hasnt been as good against Pakistani bowlers and the pull shot but he's handled Donald and Ambrose and Walsh, he's distinctly struggled to play the pull shot. Sachin has also pulled McGrath more often than perhaps any other player barring Afridi. ( Btw, when it comes to playing the pull shot, as any batsman will tell you, bounce is the most disconcerting thing, not pace, as a 99mph hip height ball is far easier to pull than a 88mph ball that rears up to your ribcage section.

Ofcourse, tendulkar doesnt play the pull shot as often as Ponting does, mainly because Tendulkar is a lot more wristy than Ponting and as a result he has two options ( to either pull it or flick it) than the sole option Ponting has ( to pull it).

Lara's pullshot is perhaps just a shade worse than Tendulkar's but his hook is almost non-existant/really dodgy.

Dravid's pull is pretty steady, perhaps better than Tendulkar's but he doesnt hook nearly as much ( mind you, post 80s players hook very very rarely anyways).

Kallis has a pretty effective but awkward pull shot but he tends to struggle against real quality pacers anyways.

Gillchrist pulls pretty viciously and so does Jayasurya but i dont consider their pull to be classier than Tendulkar's and they both play it a lot more frequently than Tendulkar does.

Hayden's pullshot is pretty cumbersome, Inzamam's looks awkward, Laxman plays it erratically, Martyn though plays it pretty elegantly ( add him to the list actually).

So who else are these 'other players' ??

PS: Another shot i would like to add is the flick to a ball outside offstump that ends up in
the cow corner - nobody today plays it as well as Laxman does and the only other player i can think of who played it as well was Viv.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Ponting's pull shot is simply the best I've ever seen. His trademark, through and through.

 

[Dasa]

Reverse Sweep: Mike Gatting

Seriously though, here are my picks (current players only). I'm only picking on aesthetic value, not how many runs they get with it or if they're dismissed by the shot or not:
Cover Drive Front foot : Lara, Atapattu, Vaughan
Cover Drive Back foot : Tendulkar, although that playing back to a full ball and slashing it through the covers Lara does is sublime
Cut Shot: Jayasuriya, Martyn
Pull: Ponting
Hook: Tendulkar (on the rare occasions he does hook)
Leg glance : Tendulkar
On Drive: Tendulkar
Off drive: Laxman
Sweep: ...I hate the sweep shot, although SRT plays it well...someone like Atapattu could make it look good though.
Slog Sweep: Trescothick, Hayden
General Slog over midwicket: Gilchrist
Best footwork to spinners: Lara - no contest.
Square Drive: Atapattu
Straight sixes and lofted drives: Gayle, Sehwag
Straight Drive: ..a difficult one..maybe Yousuf?
Late cut: ????

 

[Eclipse]

For a perfect example of Tendulkar's elegant pull, watch the shot he plays to move from 21 to 25 against RSA in bloemfontein test last tour ( the bowler was Kallis)

And who are these 'few others' ?
Ponting has improved a fair bit but to be frank, the only outright fast bowlers he's had some semblance of success pulling has been against the Pakistani and South African pacers.
Tendulkar on the other hand, hasnt been as good against Pakistani bowlers and the pull shot but he's handled Donald and Ambrose and Walsh, he's distinctly struggled to play the pull shot. Sachin has also pulled McGrath more often than perhaps any other player barring Afridi. ( Btw, when it comes to playing the pull shot, as any batsman will tell you, bounce is the most disconcerting thing, not pace, as a 99mph hip height ball is far easier to pull than a 88mph ball that rears up to your ribcage section.

Ofcourse, tendulkar doesnt play the pull shot as often as Ponting does, mainly because Tendulkar is a lot more wristy than Ponting and as a result he has two options ( to either pull it or flick it) than the sole option Ponting has ( to pull it).

Lara's pullshot is perhaps just a shade worse than Tendulkar's but his hook is almost non-existant/really dodgy.

Dravid's pull is pretty steady, perhaps better than Tendulkar's but he doesnt hook nearly as much ( mind you, post 80s players hook very very rarely anyways).

Kallis has a pretty effective but awkward pull shot but he tends to struggle against real quality pacers anyways.

Gillchrist pulls pretty viciously and so does Jayasurya but i dont consider their pull to be classier than Tendulkar's and they both play it a lot more frequently than Tendulkar does.

Hayden's pullshot is pretty cumbersome, Inzamam's looks awkward, Laxman plays it erratically, Martyn though plays it pretty elegantly ( add him to the list actually).

So who else are these 'other players' ??

PS: Another shot i would like to add is the flick to a ball outside offstump that ends up in
the cow corner - nobody today plays it as well as Laxman does and the only other player i can think of who played it as well was Viv.

Hmmmm okay so Ponting hooking Donald for sucsessive sixes when not wearing a helmet doesn't include handeling him..?? Shoaib at 90+ MPH ??

Did He not hit Flintoff around with the hook shot during the ashes and super series.. and Harmo too or though he was hit once, due to the unexpected bounce of the pitch..

And you would be wrong if you think he hasn't played the hook of Ambrose and Walsh.. he has and done so well..

Frankly I don't care if sachins pull looks more elegant it's just not as effective plain and simple.

 

[Eclipse]

Ponting's pull shot is simply the best I've ever seen. His trademark, through and through.

agreed.. I don't think anyone is in his class for that shot.. certainly not Sachin whome we all know to be brilliant but i would not say the hook is special shot of his.

 

[C_C]

Okay so Ponting hooking Donald for sucsessive sixes when not wearing a helmet doesn't include handeling him..?? Shoaib at 90+ MPH ??

Did He not hit Flintoff around with the hook during the ashes and super series.. and Harmo or though he was hit once, due to the unexpected bounce of the pitch..

And you would be wrong if you think he hasn't played the hook of ambrose and walsh.. he has and done so well..

I didnt say he has never hooked Ambrose or Walsh - but he's struggled distinctly against Walsh and Ambrose when playing the pull shot- much much more than Tendulkar has ( this is primarily because Tendulkar gets on his toes when pulling far more often than Ponting does).
And Donald has been pulled often enough by Tendulkar.
So has been Flintoff for that matter. However, i am talking about overall and single examples are largely irrelevant without considering the overall picture - ie, throughout career mastery and execution of that stroke.
Ponting's reputation as a puller primarily comes from being a very ferocious puller who plays that shot very often. Tendulkar doesnt play it nearly as often and doesnt play it nearly with as much power but his timing, footwork and back foot pirouette is simply peerless when talking about gracefulness of that shot.

Infact, Tendulkar is arguably the best player of pace in the last 15 years, given that he has faced more quality pacers than any other batsman from his era and have played them far better overall in his career than any other batsman ( Ponting was good pre-2000, when pitches were a lot bouncier and pacers were a lot sharper, whereas Tendulkar was supreme during that period).
Which is why when you take away Shane Warne, the majority of contemporary quality pacers consider Tendulkar as the best batsman in the game. ( Conversely, Lara's playing of spin is slightly better, as evidenced by the regard held for him by Murali, Vettori,McGill,etc.)

 

[C_C]

agreed.. I don't think anyone is in his class for that shot.. certainly not Sachin whome we all know to be brilliant but i would not say the hook is special shot of his.

If we are talking hook, none of the current players - not a single one of them- compare to players like Greg Chappell, Viv, Kanhai, Sobers, Gavaskar, Kallicharan, etc. Simply because in the bygone days, the hook shot was a far more commonly played stroke than today and was mastered to a far better degree.