T20 and the art of reverse sweep: Who are the masters
As the game of cricket is evolving across all the formats, many new shots are being seen, especially shorter versions like T-20
Image credit: pia.images.co.uk Glen Maxwell and his mastery of reverse sweepFrom traditional leg-glance, straight and cover drive to lofted sweep, reverse sweep and single-handed six's all are seen on the field. These shots become the signature shot for a particular batsman defining his style. Be it Sachin Tendulkar’s straight drive, Virat Kohli’s cover drive, Ricky Ponting’s pull or MS Dhoni’s helicopter- fans are often left awestruck by witnessing these trademark shots by players. However, with the evolution of the game, the sweep shot has become a necessity for any batsman to elevate his game.
Evolution of Reverse Sweep
The reverse sweep was first ever witnessed on cricket grounds in 1970 from the bat of Pakistani batter Mushtaq Muhammad. The shot is barely seen in Test cricket, but is nowadays a frequent sight in shorter formats like T20. When it was first played, it was cognate to be a trick shot, a piece of fun or show off rather than an art or talent.
The reverse sweep, when played, grasps attention from all the audience. While entertaining the fans and audience, the not-so-traditional shot gets a glare from the bowler. The shot is played by swinging the bat in one horizontal arc from legs to off.
Earlier, very few batters used to get a hands-on bat for this shot. Yet, now more and more batters play it legitimately in a largely unprotected area of the field, i.e., behind square on the offside—a high-rewarding riskier option, yet effective enough to force opposition skipper to adjust field accordingly.
Master of Reverse Sweep
From Mushtaq starting, the shot was then adapted by Andy Flower, Jawed Miandad, followed by Zimbabwe's Dave Harten, who showed the class of this shot to the world. In modern-day cricket, this shot is more popularised by Mushfiqur Rahim (Bangladesh), Nicholas Pooran (West Indies), Tom Latham (New Zealand), Ross Taylor (New Zealand), Ben Stokes (England), Glenn Maxwell (Australia) and Rishabh Pant (India).
Andy Flower
Currently appointed as the Head Coach for newly formed IPL franchise Lucknow Super Giants was once the backbone of the Zimbabwe cricket team in the 90s & 2000s. Along with his wicket-keeping skills, he anchored the innings as a batter for his team for so many years. He is known as the original master of the reverse sweep. He could reverse sweep at his own will to discover new hitting areas. He used it effectively on his way to mammoth 232-run innings in Nagpur against India and his performance in the 1999 World Cup.