10 Indian players who played the pull shot expertly

It is often said that Indian batsmen are not the best players of the short ball and more often than not, it is perhaps true. The absence of express fast bowlers in the domestic cricket and the slower pitches are factors that come into play here.

As a result, for many years, Indian batsmen struggled against the short ball in foreign shores and the pull shot (and the hook), often used to counter short pitches bowling, was hardly a weapon that Indian batsmen used too often.

That said, over the last two and a half decades, Indian batsmen have become far better players against fast, short-pitched bowling and plenty of batsmen have emerged who played the pull shot expertly. Here is a look at 10 Indian batsmen who were as good as anyone in the world as far as playing the pull shot is concerned.

10 MS Dhoni

India's legendary wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni is perhaps not the most technically correct batsman who has ever played for India but in his own way he is effective and has scored runs all over the world.

Some of his attacking strokes, like the helicopter shot, have a cult following but what often gets ignored is that Dhoni is also an excellent player of the pull shot and has played it expertly for as long as anyone can remember.

His quick eye, excellent reflexes, and a strong bottom hand has helped him in playing the shot perfectly against the fastest bowlers in the world.

9 Gautam Gambhir

The Delhi opener, who used to be a fixture in the Indian across the three formats of the game back in the day was another batsman who took on the short ball without any alarms and the pull shot used to be an important part of his attacking arsenal.

Gambhir played the shot with aplomb all over the world and even now, he plays the shot regularly against the faster bowlers in the IPL.

During his time as India's opener across all formats, his pull shots often forced the opposition bowlers to reconsider their lengths. He remains one of the best exponents of the shot in Indian cricket.

8 Cheteshwar Pujara

Among the latest generation of Indian batsmen, Test specialist and heir apparent to Rahul Dravid, Cheteshwar Pujara is one of the best pullers of the short ball. As a matter of fact, it is essential for a top-order batsman to be a good puller and in that regard, Pujara has not been found wanting.

He has the ability to pick the length of the ball early on and that is a gift that very players possess. In addition to that, his back-foot play is excellent and more often than not, he goes back onto his back-foot in a flash whenever he decides to punish a short ball with a pull shot. He hardly ever mistimes the pull shot either and keeps it along the ground.

7 Ajinkya Rahane

Ever since Rahane first started playing for India, he has been regarded as one of the most technically correct batsmen in the side and when it comes to playing the short ball, he hardly ever puts a foot wrong.

Rahane has always been successful in using the pull shot to good effect as one of his go-to attacking shots when the bowlers pepper him with short balls and his excellent backfoot technique is perhaps the most important factor that allows him to do so.

Whether it is against the likes of Mitchell Johnson in Australia or against the short ball barrage from New Zealand's Neil Wagner, Rahane can take care of the best bowlers with a perfectly executed pull shot.

6 Virat Kohli

India's best batsmen can play almost all shots in the book and despite not being a habitual puller during his early years as an Indian cricketer, he has now become one of the best in the business.

However, Kohli has now added that shot to his vast array of strokes and is one of the most difficult batsmen to bowl to in the modern game.

Relentless practice and dedication towards perfecting the shot have taken Kohli's ability to play the pull shot to a different level, which is why he dishes it out whenever he feels that a short ball is there to be attacked.

Kohli unfurls the shot across formats and is rightly an expert as far as the pull is concerned.

5 Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh is that rare specimen among Indian batsmen, who is more adept at playing fast bowlers than spinners and one of the shots that he played to devastating effect was the pull shot.

Perhaps practicing on the concrete pitch with a bowling machine in his backyard while growing up was a factor in the relative ease with which he played against fast bowling and when he was at his peak, the short ball did not faze him much.

Throughout his career as one of the best strikers of the ball in limited overs cricket, Yuvraj used the pull shot to break plenty of fast bowlers and in his pomp, there was no better sight in Indian cricket.

4 Rohit Sharma

India's limited opener Rohit Sharma is probably the most merciless puller in the world at the moment and ever since he first burst onto the international stage, the short ball has never been something that has worried him one bit.

In addition to the hook, he has the pull shot in his armoury as well and that makes it extremely difficult for fast bowlers to drop anything short against him.

However, when they do, Rohit Sharma's superior back-foot movement, quick eye, and fast hands help in playing the pull shot perfectly. Additionally, he can sometimes play it against good length deliveries as well and that makes him one of the best pullers of the ball in Indian cricket.

3 Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar made his debut for India against Pakistan's pace battery and then went on to make a name for himself on the lighting quick pitches in Australia.

Even as a teenage prodigy, he looked completely at home against top class fast bowling and throughout his career as one of the world's premier batsmen, he used the pull shot to great effect in all formats of the game.

The thing that made Tendulkar such a superb player of the pull shot was his ability to pick up the length early and then his quick feet movement made it possible for him to play the shot successfully most of the time.

2 VVS Laxman

There are very few batsmen who actually look graceful when they play the pull shot and much of it has to do with the fact that the shot involved a certain amount of power in order to be executed perfectly.

However, VVS Laxman was an exception since even the pull shots that he played were played with grace and timing, that made it all look like a work of outstanding batsmanship.

Like the best pullers of the ball, Laxman sized up the length of the ball very early and he could do so on some of the fastest pitches, which allowed him the time to pull with impunity. He continued to play the shot perfectly till the end of his career and remains one of the best players of the shot from India.

1 Rahul Dravid

The Indian batting legend is probably one of the best batsmen the country has ever produced and in the domain of the pull shot, there is no one better.

Through a career that lasted for a decade and a half, Dravid was considered one of the best pullers of the ball and perhaps only Australia's Ricky Ponting was arguably better than him in the department.

Dravid generally used to be content with letting short balls go but if he decided that a ball was there to be hit then there was no one better than him and his usual calling card used to be the pull shot, which he played to great effect against some of the best bowlers in the world across the different formats of the game.

Even his waning reflexes towards the end of his career did not in any way affect his ability to play that shot.