The Straight Drive

Cricket is a game dominated by batsman, the rules favor him, the crowd supports him, television camera follows him, sponsors follow him, etc. :) I think the idea is pretty much clear now, we love to watch Batsman score lots of runs. Of all the illustrous shots that can be played by batsman on varied surfaces the shot that looks most elegant and tests batting skills is the - 'Straight Drive'.

To play a convinsing straight drive the batsman should have great body balance. Play the ball late and hit the middle of the bat (about six inches from bottom). The key to playing a good straight drive is that batsman's weight is on the front leg and the momentum is forward.

A few tips for playing this shot to good effect:-

--> Keep your head still and in line with the Bat, make sure you don't fall outside the line of your bat

--> Make sure the front toe points down the line of the pitch, watch the ball come right through and the impact with the bat should be below the eye line. The body must be slightly turned and the shoulders opened out to allow the free swing of the bat.

--> Follow-through of this shot is very important as you look straight back to the bowler and command respect.

A straight drive is a good arsenal for modern day cricketing combat as when the field is spread you can still get a boundary or a two using this glorious shot.

Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar, both know as Little Masters of their era, played this shot to perfection. Among other graceful exploiters of this shot are Rahul Dravid, Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting, Kevin Pietersen.