The cover-drive and it's complexities

#5 The need to turn the cover drive to an “inside-out” shot

The inside-out stroke requires tremendous technical perfection

The inside-out shot is the lofted version of the extra-cover shot and is played over the infield, giving oneself room on the off-side. The shot is mostly played to the spinners with a little shimmy down the track and the most precarious part of the shot is that all three stumps are exposed while going inside-out.

There are two things which need to fall in place for the batsman to execute the shot with perfection – the ball should be taken at the half-volley and the batsman has to judge the trajectory of the ball to perfection.

If either goes awry, then the batsman will get himself into a tangle and, as a result, the percentage of the dismissal will rise up.

Ther cover-drive will always remain one of the classy strokes and that’s the reason why it’s one of the hardest stroke to execute. The difficulty level is equivalent to the back-of-the-hand slower delivery by bowlers.

If the shot is out of the screws, then it’s a screamer, but if doesn’t, then it obviously doesn’t look cool.