IPL 2019: 3 most mind-boggling shots of the season

The Indian Premier League is the biggest domestic cricket extravaganza in the world for a reason. The league is the perfect fusion of classic, old-school cricket and modern, unorthodox cricket; it caters to both serious cricket fans and people who watch the league purely from an entertainment point of view.

While the unorthodox shot-making and brutal six-hitting in the league are enjoyed by almost everyone, the textbook shots played by classic batsmen cater to the purists of the game -who'd otherwise have lost their sanity by now.

The T20 format, in which the IPL is played, requires great awareness of match situations, field placements and opposition strategies. Batsmen are always on their toes thinking about what shot to execute so that they can score the maximum possible runs on any given ball.

Constantly pressured by the severe constraint on the number of balls in a T20 match, the gifted batsmen end up pushing themselves and playing the most unbelievable shots to accelerate the scoring rate. Here, we look back at the three most mind-boggling shots played in IPL 2019:

#3 AB de Villiers' unbelievable one-handed swipe for six

AB de Villiers is not called 'Superman' for nothing. When he received a beamer on his chest from Mohammad Shami in the 19th over of RCB's home game against the Kings XI Punjab, he ducked, and simultaneously sent the ball soaring into the stands for a maximum.

What was even more mind-boggling about this shot is that though his eyes were off the ball and his bat was in his 'wrong' hand (his left hand), he struck the ball with great power, while simultaneously making connection at the sweet spot of his bat. For someone who is rightly called Mr. 360, there can be no 'wrong' hand, can there?

#2 Hardik Pandya gives Dhoni a taste of his own medicine

Hardik Pandya showed that he too has the helicopter shot in his arsenal (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

Many cricket fans used to think that only MS Dhoni could take on the death bowlers with his unique helicopter shot. But Hardik Pandya proved everyone wrong when he implemented his own version of the helicopter shot, that too in a match against the Chennai Super Kings, with Dhoni standing right behind him.

The Mumbai Indians not only won that match, but they went on to lift the title. Pandya was one of the main architects of MI's victorious campaign this season, especially with the bat.

He later confessed that he had observed Dhoni practicing the helicopter shot in the nets a lot of times, and added that he had made notes based on those observations. He also said that he had been working on the shot for quite some time.

#1 'Sir' Ravindra Jadeja's sleeping swag

Jadeja and Stokes admiring the former's unbelievable six (picture courtesy: BCCI/iplt20.com)

Can there ever be too little drama in a match that features Ravindra Jadeja in the last over? Chennai Super Kings required 18 runs off the last over in their match against Rajasthan Royals, with Jadeja on strike and MS Dhoni at the other end.

With Ben Stokes bowling a delivery wide of the off-stump, Jadeja had to reach out for the ball. While connecting bat to ball with full power, Jadeja lost his balance and fell flat on the ground.

In spite of that, he managed to complete the shot and got the desired result of 6 runs. There were two more funny things about this shot:

1. In addition to Jadeja, the bowler Stokes also fell flat on the ground despite the two of them making no contact and being at the farthest possible distance from each other.

2. Dhoni wasn't entirely convinced that the shot would go all the way for a six and wanted Jadeja to run, but Jadeja continued to admire the trajectory of the ball while maintaining his sleeping swag posture. He didn't get up till Dhoni walked right up to him and gave him two soft blows on the back of his helmet with his bat.