How to play a Sweep-Shot?
Sweepshot is one of those old school aesthetically pleasing cricket shots which has been practiced by batters since the beginning of the game. It’s indeed one of the oldest shots which still has a lot of prominence in modern day cricket.
We have all seen the likes of Sachin, Dravid, Yuvraj, Sangakkara to modern day batters like Ben Stokes, Ross Taylor, Mushfiqur Rahim & Hashim Amla playing picture perfect sweeps. But how do we master that without the fear of getting trapped LBW? Well, we at Homeground Cricket will give you a quick briefing on how to play a perfect sweep shot.
A Sweepshot is a cross-batted front foot shot played to a slow full toss or a low bouncing ball often to a spinner with an aim to rotate the strike. The shot is usually executed sweeping the ball towards the leg side, ideally towards square leg or fine leg.
To play this shot, your head should be leaning out above the front foot and just outside the front knee. Post that, bring the bat down and across from the high backswing to play a perfect sweep. Make sure to show as much of the face of the bat as possible to the point of impact and roll your wrists to keep the ball grounded.
Important Pointers to keep in mind for Sweepshot:
Understand the basics of batting. Sweep shot is an advanced shot and takes years of practice, batsman must be aware about the basics of batting first before he attempts the difficult shot. Batters first needs to know defence and how to face different types of bowlers while at the same be efficient in reading the spinners.
Judge the bowler. A batsman should know how to judge the bowler. Spinners can change the variations at the very last moment before delivery and as a batsman you should be able to judge the spin and variations of the ball after bouncing.
Practice often. It goes without saying, that playing a sweep shot requires lots of practice. It’s difficult for a beginner but start with practicing atleast for an hour everyday in the nets till you master it. One hour or 100 shots in same direction whatever finishes first!
Come on front foot as soon as the ball is delivered. As a batsman, make sure not to be much on front foot you may end up getting stump out.
Bend your front foot knee as if you are stretching. However, make sure not to overbend, so that you can return to the original position if you are unable to execute or transmit.
Judge the ball
If you judge the bounce and spin of the ball, you will be able to execute it better. Chancers are the bowlers might have understood your footwork and bowler would try his best to not allow you to play that shot. During such situations, the spinner would often bowl short at a higher speed to make you beat the ball.
If you see bowler doing that, quickly come on back foot by re-bending your knees to the original position and defence the ball.
Bend your front knee completely and make your back foot knee touch the ground by making it bend.
Swing your bat as if you are sweeping: Timing is the most important ingredient for sweep shot. Make sure you time the ball sweetly and hits the sweet spot of the bat!