Different Orthodox Batting Shots

Orthodox simply holds the meaning "traditional". The orthodox batting shots are classified according to the region of the cricket ground where the batsman hits the ball. We must have been a great fan of Straight Drive of Sachin Tendulkar, Pull shot of Ricky Ponting, Square drive of Sourav Ganguly and so on. Many batsman around the globe show the orthodox shots at many times. In traditional batting, the entire cricket ground is sectioned into various small and large slices (think it analogous to the pizza slices ). And the shots are named accordingly into which slice of the cricket ground the batsman hits the ball. To get the clear picture, I have edited the cricket ground according to the playing zones. Lets get started.

[Note : all the batting shots are mentioned with reference to a Right Handed Batsman]

Drives :

A drive is a shot that is played by swinging the bat in the vertical arc along the line of the ball. While implementing the drive, the batsman uses the momentum of the ball and drives the ball into different slices. Just by looking at the batsman immediately after he plays the drive, the different kinds of drives can be differentiated. According to the region the ball traverses,  there are following different kinds of drives.

1) Straight Drive : A shot that is played by driving the ball into the straight region or point of the field. Straight Drive is best believed to be played by the batting legend Sachin Tendulkar.

Sachin playing straight drive

2) Off and On Drive : An off region is the region that is left to the straight region or often mid-off for a right handed batsman. The region right to the straight region is the on region or often called mid-on (see figure above). A batsman can drive the ball into the off and on slices of the field by playing the off and on drive respectively.

Off Drive - Kevin Pietersen (England)

On Drive - Zeshan Siddiqui

3) Cover Drive : A drive shot played along the cover region is a cover drive. A well timed cover drive is always mesmerizing and classy to watch.

Cover Drive - Yasir Hameed (Pakistan)

4) Square Drive : The drive played along the square region is a square drive. There is contradiction somewhere saying that a square drive is actually a square cut because it is taken as the horizontal bat shot.

Square Drive - Sachin Tendulkar (India)

Cuts

The cuts are the kinds of the horizontal bat sots played at the off-region. To be more specific, the cuts are the cross batted shots usually played at the short-pitched ball. In cuts, the bats man diverts the ball by utilizing the bowler's pace. Unlike drives, there is least effort of the batsman involved. It is because the batsman just diverts the bowler's pace and the required effort is normally low. The different forms of the cuts are:

1) Square cut : This shot is played on the off region at nearly 90 degrees in reference to the wicket or the point region. 

Square Cut - Mohammed Hafeez (Pakistan)

2) Late cut : It is a shot that is played after the ball traverses the batsman body and is usually played towards the third man. Late cuts are more often played against the spinners.

Late Cut - Dough Watson

Leg glance : This is another clever orthodox shot. In this shot, the batsman uses the bat to flick the ball towards the leg region. This is straight batted shot and is often played when the ball is pitching towards the leg side.

Leg Glance - Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)

Hook and Pull shot : The pull shot is the cross batted shot that is played along the leg side when the ball is usually waist high. The shot got its name as it seems the batsman is pulling the ball towards the square leg. Aussie Player Ricky Ponting is best believed to master the pull shot.

Pull Shot - Ricky Ponting (Australia)

Hook shot, on the other hand is played against the bouncy ball or the ball up to chest high and the ball is played behind the square leg. The shot got its name as the it seems batsman hooks the ball.

Both hook and pull shot can be played at the front as well as back foot while the later being more effective.

Hook Shot - T Suman (Pune Warriors India)

This sums up the orthodox batting techniques. Please feel free to comment.