5 iconic shots in cricket history

While no single cricket shot has determined the outcome of an entire match, there have been certain shots which have assumed far greater significance than others either because of the context in which they were played or due to the role they played in revolutionizing the sport.Here are the five most iconic shots in cricket history:

#5 Brian Laras pull shot to surpass Garry Sobers world record score of 365

It was apparent as soon as Brian Lara made his debut for the West Indies that here was a player with special gifts, and his record-breaking 375 against England at Antigua in 1994 only reaffirmed that notion.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bat on day 1 of the Test on a pretty placid pitch, but lost the wicket of Stuart Williams early. That brought Lara to the crease, much to the delight of the large West Indian crowd, and he put on a batting feast for all those watching over the next two days. He notched up his triple hundred late on Day 2 and finished the day not out on 320.

With West Indies sitting comfortably on 502/4 going into Day 3 and any result other than a draw seeming unlikely, the main interest was to see if Lara could surpass Sir Gary Sobers’ world record score of 365, which had been amassed against Pakistan in 1958. And Lara didn’t disappoint, as he quickly levelled Sobers on 365 before pulling a short delivery from Chris Lewis for four to the midwicket fence and surpassing the great man.

Sobers was himself present on the ground that day and acknowledged Lara’s efforts, remarking at the time, "I don't think a better person could have broken my record."

#4 Kevin Pietersens switch-hit off Muttiah Muralitharan

Kevin Pietersen has been known for his free spirited approach as a batsman over the years. But even by his standards, the switch-hit is a pretty outrageous stroke to attempt.

For the uninitiated, a switch-hit is a shot where a right-handed batsman reverses his grip on the bat handle and changes his stance just at the time of the bowler’s delivery stride to play like a left-hander, or vice versa.

Pietersen first employed the shot during a Test match against Sri Lanka at Edgbaston in May 2006, and although it has become part of the repertoire of many batsmen since, the difficulty involved in executing the stroke cannot be underestimated.

Facing up to Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who for most batsmen was difficult to face while batting normally, Pietersen reversed his grip at the very last moment and hit him into the stands for a six with a left-hander’s stance, taking not just Murali but the entire cricketing world completely by surprise.

Although the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), who are the guardians of the laws of cricket, have said that they will not legislate against the shot, with it being perfectly legal according to the laws of the game, it does have its skeptics who argue that the stroke gives the batsman an unfair advantage over the bowler.

#3 Javed Miandads last ball six against India at Sharjah

No one moment defined the rivalry between Pakistan and India in the 1980s better than Javed Miandad’s six off the final ball in an ODI between the two countries at Sharjah in April 1986. Pakistan, after all, dominated much of the era, and a large part of that dominance was undoubtedly down to Miandad’s brilliance.

On this particular occasion, the final of the AustralAsia Cup, Pakistan needed 246 off their 50 overs and were actually behind the eight ball for most of the game. So much so that India were favourites even going into the last ball of the game, provided you do not take into account the genius of Miandad that is.

Needing 4 off the final delivery, Miandad went on to do two better as he struck a six over mid-wicket off a low full-toss from Chetan Sharma to win his team the final, finishing on 116* off 114 deliveries. Sharma actually didn’t do too much wrong with the delivery, but you didn’t need to in order to be punished by the street-smart Pakistani.

#2 Sachin Tendulkars upper cut against Shoaib Akhtar in the 2003 World Cup

The anticipation surrounding the contest between Sachin Tendulkar and Shoaib Akhtar in the lead-up to the Super Six clash between the two-arch rivals during the 2003 World Cup had reached fever pitch. There was well-documented history between the pair of course, with Akhtar having dismissed Tendulkar for a golden duck during their very first meeting, in a Test match in Kolkata in 1999.

Tendulkar, however, was too proud of his abilities to allow this particular meeting to have a similar outcome. Chasing a competitive target of 274 from 50 overs, Tendulkar set the record straight straight away with a magnificent upper cut over third man for six in Akhtar’s very first over. The ball was slightly short of a good length but had just enough room for Tendulkar to free his arms and take full toll.

Perhaps the Little Master had played many more aesthetically pleasing strokes over his 24-year international career, but I doubt if any of them had the kind of impact that this particular shot did.

The then 29-year old Mumbaikar went on to score 98 off just 75 deliveries to lay the platform for India overhauling Pakistan’s total, which they did with 6 wickets and 26 balls to spare.

#1 MS Dhonis match-winning six in 2011 World Cup final

After the historic ICC Cricket World Cup win of 1983, Indian cricket fans had to wait for 28 long years to taste World Cup success again. But the wait was made worth it by Indian captain MS Dhoni, who hit a majestically towering six off the bowling of Nuwan Kulasekara to end things in grand style and win India the 2011 World Cup, rounding off a match-winning effort of 91* from 79 balls.

Needing 275 from 50 overs for victory, India were in a spot of bother at 114/3 when Dhoni walked out to bat. Despite being in poor form, having scored a grand total of 150 runs from eight matches prior to the final, he somehow summoned the courage to promote himself ahead of Yuvraj Singh, who in contrast was in the form of his life. The move, thankfully for Dhoni and India, paid off.

He started off his innings without doing anything rash: ones and twos, while punishing the odd loose ball in between, were the order of the day. Gautam Gambhir at the other end, meanwhile, was in superb touch right from the start of his innings and looked on course to take the team to victory.

Gambhir was dismissed on 97 after putting together a 109-run partnership with Dhoni. By then, however, victory was in sight, with 52 needed at run a ball and 6 wickets in hand. Dhoni and Yuvraj went about their job serenely, and soon just five were needed off 12 balls with the Punjab left-hander on strike.

Yuvraj, perhaps sensing Dhoni’s urge to hit the winning runs after doing so much of the hard work, rotated the strike over, bringing the equation down to 4 from 11.

Even one run at a time would have done the job, but Dhoni has a tendency of doing the spectacular. And he duly did so again, as he dispatched a hapless Kulasekara over wide long-on for an almighty six, seemingly sending not just the majority of the 42,000 (there were a few Sri Lankans in the stadium too) present at the Wankhede that evening but the whole nation into rapturous joy.