THE LOFTED STRAIGHT DRIVE
Here’s the shot which he used to dismantle the spinners. The spinners couldn’t find a way to tackle Lara, who had one of the quickest hands in the business.
Leg moment
- The leg reached down to the ball first with his bat’s handle resting on the stomach.
- His stepping down method was as quick as his hands.
Small backlift
- Used his wrists to bring the bat quicker to the ball.
- He always waited for the ball to reach him, and his small backlift, here, helped him in getting contact at the end.
Weight transfer
- While playing this shot, you can see the weight transfering to the front leg while the back foot gets lifted in some instances.
- This method was successful because of the way the spinners bowled.
- Unlike modern-day cricket, the spinners of those days used to bowl loopy deliveries as their stock delivery to get the batsman in a trap. This helped Lara to be more antagonistic towards spin bowling.
