How to play straight drive in cricket

Hello, cricketers if you are in search of how to play straight drive in cricket while playing leather ball cricket? Then you are at right place. Today, we are presenting straight drive technique in cricket and by going through this cricket article we are sure your doubts will end here.

What is straight drive in cricket

Generally, straight drive is a grounded shot played by batsman towards the front umpire. In this shot batsman use to show full face of the bat and usually ball travels towards the boundaries after meeting the full face of the bat.

How to play straight drive in cricket

To play straight drive shot in cricket you have to follow the basic cricket steps. In order to make you understand easily we have braked these steps in small steps including batting stance, bat grip position, cricket bat backlift, Toe position, correct footwork in cricket, elbow position

Batting stance – First and most basic step in cricket to play any shot is your batting stance.  One can master this stroke with simple batting stance. Simple batting stance is a copybook stance just like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Virendra Sehwag. In this stance your both legs will be parallel to each other, your toes will be exactly parallel to each other. By implementing all the above points a right-handed batsman should stand in such a way that front umpire or main umpire cannot see his right shoulder. It is same for the left handed batsman as well. A left handed batsman should stand in such a way that a front umpire cannot see his left shoulder. Hope you are enjoying this article on straight drive in cricket, keep reading.

Cricket bat grip position – Cricket bat holding position or grip position is equally important as batting stance or woodwork. There is a very fine difference in bat holding position and few good players can easily recognize this difference. Always remember whenever you want to hit a big shot you should hold the bat handle bit upper portion. So that you can swing your bat easily whereas for technical shots like straight drive shots you must hold bat handle bit lower. Your bottom hand should be just above the neck of the bat and with two finger gap put your upper hand. By holding the bat in this style it becomes easy to play punch shots and ground shots.  

Cricket bat back lift for  playing straight drive should be simple. Meaning, no high backlift is required to play straight drive shot. Moreover, it is a shot played with the ground and you need to bring back a bat on time by presenting full face so short backlift is good for playing straight drive.

Toe position – Your toe position will be towards point region before pitching the ball. When ball reaches you, your front foot toe must open towards front umpire.

Cricket footwork –   cricket footwork is very important to play any  cricket shot.  for playing straight drive your front foot should not go across and it must open towards main umpire. While playing straight drive drag your back foot along with front foot and finish the shot.

Elbow position – Stretch your elbow to upwards while playing straight drive. Face of left elbow of right hand batsman will be towards the sky.

Straight drive technique in cricket

cricket bat

Straight drive batting technique – First take proper stance and make sure your both legs are equally parallel to each other, to check this the best thing is check your toes and your toes should be exactly parallel to each other. Don’t stand much open chested, open chested stance will force you to play towards leg side. For playing straight drive it is necessary to pick the line and length of the ball correctly. Generally, straight drive is played on the full length or overpitch ball. You should play the straight drive shot on the ball pitching 2 to 3 inches before from the batsman. However you can also play straight drive on the Yorker balls just like Sachin Tendulkar but for that you need 4 to 5 hours daily practice for just this delivery. Straight bat shots are helpful and results in long innings by batsman. You are liking this cricket article, continue reading till the end.

Pick the line – You can play a straight drive on middle stump, leg stump and off stump as well  but you have to come over the ball quickly. 

Straight drive tips – Straight drive is played on front foot, your ankle will open towards front stumps (runner end) Now stretch  your elbow upwards and your body balance will be on Front foot. To make your body balance correctly on front foot drag your back foot beside front foot but slightly behind the front foot. Pay attention, you must show the full face of bat at this moment. To make this shot more effective move 1 to 2 steps forward after finishing the shot.

faq

Who plays best straight drive in cricket?

Sachin Tendulkar is the king of straight drive.

While playing straight drive how to grip the bat?

You must hold the bat by putting the lower hand just above the neck of the bat and their should be 2 fingers gap between lower and upper hands.

Can we play straight drive on yorker balls?

Yes, by practicing hard you can play straight drive on yorker balls as well. Sachin Tendulkar has shown class of playing straight drive on yorker balls several times.

Best video for practicing straight drive?

Watch Sachin Tendulkar’s video for practicing straight drive. He has played straight drive in all most every game.

Who is the king of cricket?

Virat kohli is known as king of cricket.

Hope you liked our this article about how to play straight drive in cricket! If you have any doubt feel free to ask in the comment box. You can also share this article on your social media. Thank You.

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