Ten Best Reverse Sweep Shot Players in Cricket

Playing a reverse sweep is an art which requires hand-eye coordination, extension of arms, maintaining and keeping your focus on the ball till the batter plays the shot. It is a shot where the batter strokes the ball in the opposite direction to the off side. This shot was mostly played against the spinners but after the introduction of T20 Cricket and with the game getting fast-paced batters have become more innovative to play these shots against the pacers. In this piece, we discuss ten batters who played the sweep shots well. They differed in their techniques and playing styles but they had their ways of playing this shot. We take a look at these batters in detail:

Andy Flower (Zimbabwe)

Andy Flower was one of the finest reverse sweep shot players of his generation. The former wicket-keeper batter sensed the line of the ball early and placed it in the gap. He could reverse sweep the ball against the spin. He used his bottom hand and wrists to good effect.

AB De Villiers (South Africa)

When it comes to adding innovation in batting you can’t forget this player. De Villiers plays the reverse sweep with as much authority and precision as the sweep shot. Mr 360 degrees as he is fondly called due to the wide range of shots he possesses De Villiers tends to clear his front leg outside the off stump to get a proper view of the ball that enables him to dispatch over covers or point area.

Jonty Rhodes (South Africa)

Jonty Rhodes discovered the sweep shot uniquely by hitting the ball over the slips and gully area. The former right-hander sometimes just guided the ball in the vacant area while hitting with the spin but while hitting against the spin he used his bottom hand strength to send the ball to the fence. He maintained a steady balance on his front foot.

Kevin Pietersen (England)

Pietersen’s height and wide stance enabled him to get to the pitch of the ball early to play the reverse sweep. He almost got into the position of a left-hander when he played the shot from outside the leg stump hitting the ball square or in between mid-off and the point area. The shot was also called a switch hit.

David Warner (Australia)

Warner also plays the reverse sweep in the same way as Pietersen if the ball is bowled around leg stump. The left-hander moves his front foot forward if the ball is bowled around off stump. Warner changes his grip while playing a reverse sweep. His strong forearms are enough to deposit the ball into the fence which is much like a short arm jab.

Glenn Maxwell (Australia)

Maxwell has added a new feature in modern-day batting when it comes to playing the reverse sweep. The right-hander tends to shuffle to unsettle the bowlers. The right-hander is unorthodox when it comes to reaching out to play a delivery that is bowled outside the leg stump when he plays a reverse sweep towards the third man area. When the ball is bowled outside the off stump he plays the shot wide of third man. Maxwell is capable of hitting big sixes against the pacers with reverse sweep shots.

Ben Stokes (England)

Stokes is also a bit unorthodox when it comes to playing the reverse sweep. He moves his front leg towards the middle stump area while his back leg moves towards the leg stump when he plays a reverse sweep against a ball that is around the leg stump but when the ball is pitched around the middle leg front foot tends to shift around the off stump. Stoke’s reach and his wide stance combined with his strong forearms help him generate power to play the shot powerfully.

Nicholas Pooran (West Indies)

Pooran gets the entire body weight while playing the shot as his front leg shifts outside the off stump. There is hardly any movement of the back leg when Pooran plays this shot but the left-hander tends to hit the ball in between the square fielder and third-man area.

Tom Latham (New Zealand)

Latham uses the pace of the ball and guides it in the gap with his timing rather than hitting the ball hard. While playing this shot against the spinners directs the ball wide of slips. The left-hander tends to play the reverse sweep with soft hands rather than going hard at it.

Rishabh Pant (India)

Pant is arguably one of the most powerful strikers in modern-day cricket and he certainly uses a lot of bottom-hand power when he plays the reverse sweep. The wicketkeeper batter has made it a habit to try something innovative while batting whether it is his pick-up shot on the leg side or the reverse sweep. He moves his front leg towards the off stump to get the room and to connect the ball.

Read Next | Five Cricketers with Most ICC Awards