Cricket has changed a lot from the first time it was played. When the first time someone would have picked up a bat, they would not have thought about how modern-day cricketers can use it. The conventional coaches in different cricket academies across the globe would have had sleepless nights when they would have seen AB de Villiers bat. But things have changed now. The de Villiers’ style of batting is referred to as modern cricket and fans too enjoy it.
But as it’s said, change is the only constant. So, the international cricketers are not yet ready to give up on investing in new shots. England all-rounder Moeen Ali tried one such never-seen-before shot against South Africa in the third ODI, played on 1 February. The southpaw tried to play a one-handed reverse sweep against Tabraiz Shamsi. However, Ali failed miserably as the batter could not establish any connection between the bat and the ball.
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A day later, India batter Hanuma Vihari gave this ‘new shot’ a try and nailed it. Vihari, playing in the Ranji Trophy, not only established a connection between the bat and the ball but the batter dispatched the red cherry to the boundary ropes. Vihari earned four crucial runs for his team with this new shot.
There was one more difference between the shot played by Ali and Vihari. While the England all-rounder played this shot out of innovation, Vihari pulled the rabbit out of the hat out of desperation. As the Indian batter was playing left-handed with a fractured wrist, Vihari had to manufacture this shot so that he can use his dominant hand and make a connection.
Meanwhile, as Vihari pulled off this unorthodox shot with sheer ease while Moeen Ali failed miserably, a netizen poked fun at the English batter. A Twitter user suggested Ali watches Vihari’s shot and learns how to play it.
“That's how you play a one-handed reverse scoop Moeen. Watch and Learn,” wrote the user.