5 most innovative shots in cricket history

Innovation and cricket are two things which go hand in hand. They both are like two sides of the same coin. Cricket is one of the few sports to witness such creativity in the world. Whether it refers to bowling, batting, or fielding, players keep on using their innovative mind resulting in the invention of a new shot or style.

With the bat, the batsmen keep on creating new shots in their unique styles and delivering awe-inspiring moments. While the bowlers use their innovative brain in developing new bowling styles creating difficulty for the batsmen to understand it.

There are several basic shots which have been mastered by the all-time greats. No other player can play a better straight drive than Sachin Tendulkar. Virat Kohli has mastered his hand in the cover drive, Sehwag in the uppercut and so on. But these kinds of shots are common and plenty of batsmen can play them.

While there have been several instances where the batsmen hit shots out of the rulebook to create their own rules set. The elite list of such top 5 unbelievable shots in the history of cricket is as follows-

#1 Daniel Christian's Reverse Ramp Shot

Daniel Christian has been regarded as one of the star players of Big Bash League

The 35-year-old all-rounder Daniel Christian has remained as one of the best for Australia in T20s. Despite having talent, he has not got enough chances in Australia’s squad which gives him time to play domestic leagues of Australia where the stalwart has emerged as one of the most impressive players.

Daniel Christian put his nomination in for the most innovative shots in Big Bash League. Nicknamed as Dan, Christian while playing for Brisbane Heat smashed a wonderful reverse ramp shot which stunned the whole crowd. The bowler, Luke Wright, had no idea where the shot came from and was completely shocked.

Video credits: Brisbane Heat/YouTube

#2 Steve Smith's shot between the legs

Video credits: Dailymotion

Steve Smith has been playing the role of a backbone for Australia since his arrival into the field of cricket. Ever since he made his debut in 2010, he has been the leading run-scorer for Australia in all 3 formats of the game. However, due to his hard luck, he is at present out of the national side pertaining to his ban for breaching the code of conduct.

Despite being out, he holds the 2nd position in ICC Test rankings for batsmen. Smith is also known for playing one of the most innovative shots in cricket known, a quirky shot between the legs.

During a one-day international between Australia and South Africa, Smith smashed Morkel’s delivery with an unbelievable shot for a boundary. Steve placed the ball on the leg side through his legs. With this shot, he entered the elite list of players who have played some unexceptional shots in cricket.

#3 Siddhant Lohani's helicopter shot

Video credits: YouTube

Siddhant Lohani is a 23-year-old Nepali cricketer. Lohani plays the role of an all-rounder and is a right-handed batsman and leg-break bowler. He wore his national jersey for the first time in July 2015. Siddhant is mainly known for his ability to play 360-degree shots.

The Nepali cricketer in the initial days of his career marked his presence with his stunning batting style. He tried replicating the famous helicopter shot. MS Dhoni was one of the first ones to play such mind-boggling shot and later on, other cricketers followed it.

He smashed the opposition bowler for a helicopter shot in his debut match during the Twenty20 qualifier tournament. Siddhant Lohani played the shot with a lot of ease, making the bowler wonder about his abilities. You can watch the shot at the 35th second of the above video.

#4 Glenn Maxwell's reverse sweep (Yorkshire vs Lancashire)

Glenn Maxwell is popular among cricket fans for his dramatic shot-making and improvisation in the shorter format of the game. For other players, reverse sweep is one of the most difficult shots to play. Glenn has somehow mastered his art of playing one of the most difficult shots in the history of cricket.

He mainly plays the shorter format of the game and keeps on creating different reverse sweeps. There is hardly a match featuring Maxwell which goes without witnessing his reverse sweep. Once Maxwell stunned the whole crowd with his unorthodox reverse sweep over covers.

Glenn, while playing his first ball for Yorkshire, smashed a leg-side ball for a six over the cover with his amazing reverse sweep. It left even the commentators stunned as it was just the first ball of the innings.

#5 Brendon McCullum's Superscoop

Brendon McCullum gave a new touch to Dilshan's dilscoop — Brendon McCullum gave a new touch to Dilshan's

Nicknamed Baz, Brendon McCullum has been a star player for New Zealand. Playing fearlessly, he used to be one of the most aggressive batsmen in the world, hitting sixes right from the first ball of the match.

Playing to his aggressive nature, McCullum once smashed the second fastest bowler in the world for a very unorthodox stroke. Baz, while playing against the mighty Australian team, smashed Shaun Tait for a stunning six.

He picked the delivery released from Shaun Tait and placed it in the stands between the wicket-keeper and fine-leg position. McCullum made the whole crowd completely speechless with his unique touch to Dilshan’s signature shot, Dilscoop. He retired from international cricket to focus on the T20 leagues and is still giving the fans some awe-inspiring moments with his bat.