5 greatest players of the straight drive

1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar

As far as the straight drive is concerned, Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar might as well have patented the shot and prevented others from attempting to play it. He was that good at it - and the scores of videos on the internet that feature only his straight drives played across his 24-year career, is a testament to his mastery of the shot. The thing with good batsmen is that they pick up lengths early, irrespective of the pace at which a bowler is bowling and what often made Tendulkar's straight drives even better was the fact that even if the deliveries were swinging in or out, he had the ability to smother that before going through with his signature thump past the bowler.

However, what made him the best player of the shot was that he played it to perfection with far more regularity than most other batsmen and in addition to that, the straight bat and high elbows made the shot look even more spectacular.