6 players who play the straight drive to perfection

6 players who play the straight drive to perfection: Playing with a straight bat is very important to decrease the possibility of getting edges. And there is just no parallel sight to a straight drive. Most front foot shots are played to good length deliveries. This means they are usually pitched well up to the batsman. Front foot driving, especially the straight drive, is the hallmark of a fine batsman. Its a shot the spectators are ready to pay the hard-earned money to watch. And there are some batsmen who just personify driving straight down the ground. We list out a selected collection of six: 1. Sachin Tendulkar If you want to see the perfect example of a straight drive, watch India’s Sachin Tendulkar in action. The Little Master almost always hits the ball with little effort with a classic straight bat. There were few sights better in cricket than his straight drive. No cricketer, past or present, has played the shot better than the Mumbai batting maestro. It was all so blissful and yet nonchalant: the lifting of the bat, making it meet the ball gracefully and then stroking it straight back past the bowler with an effortless thump. You could watch it for hours at end and yet never get bored of it. Even the bowlers couldn’t hold back and admired it. 2. Michael Clarke A batsman of great talent and enormous ambition, Michael Clarke emerged as a promising name when breaking into the Australian squad was no mean feat. Always a free-flowing batsman, his initial years were filled with breathtaking centuries. He has been a picture of grace and composure with the willow. Never quite a power hitter his driving was a sight for the heavens. He is one of the very few who go through with the straight drive providing a perfect camera moment for the photographers. He became only the 4th Aussie skipper to lift the ICC World Cup Trophy after Border, Steve Waugh and Ponting. 3. Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting – a right-handed batsman from Tasmania – is the highest run getter for Australia in both Tests and ODIs and is also their most successful captain. A predominantly front-foot player, Ponting is known for his exquisite straight drives. Being good off the front foot does not mean he is any less apt of the back. He has all the shots in the book and undoubtedly is an ideal role model for any youngster of the present generation. His breathtaking, fielding is a force in the game by itself. Though natural elegance might not be his attribute, but Punter more than makes up for that with his brilliant footwork. 4. Jacques Kallis Jacques Kallis Straight Drive. (© Gallo Images/Getty Images) Few players who belong to the modern age are a better fit for the notion of the classical cricketer than this man. Technically sound and strong off either foot, Kallis is adept at playing both the seamers and the spinners. Though his primary emphasis is on defence, he is always on the lookout for runs and is severe on anything loose. He can play practically every shot in the book, though his straight drives are the best. He is the only man to have scored over 10000 runs and taken over 250 wickets in both forms of the game (T20Is excluded). 5. Rahul Dravid (source) If one ever needed someone to personify understated elegance, Rahul Dravid would be the perfect fit. He has been a giant of Indian cricket one of the three best batsmen produced by the country alongside Tendulkar and Gavaskar but has somehow never got the adulation he so richly deserves.Flourish , is not something we usually associate with the Karnataka batsman but his straight drives are a classic example of how to lean forward while playing a drive. He is able to hit deliveries straight even if they aren’t exactly pitched up. Raul gets that liberty because of his great balance at the crease and the ability to keep his head still while playing the shot. 6. Mahela Jayawardene (source) Mahela Jayawardene is regarded as one of the best players of his generation. A sweet timer of the ball, Jayawardene is blessed with immaculate technique and loads of patience. Equally adept of both the front and back foot, he is particularly at ease driving the ball down the ground. That is often achieved with minimal footwork but precise placement and timing. His vertical bat swings remind you of a school boy using the scale to draw straight lines. A team man to the core, he is credited for developing many of Sri Lanka’s youngsters into better cricketers. Apart from his artistry, what stands out about his batting is his hunger for big scores, apparent triple century in a record 624 run partnership with Sangakkara in 2006 against South Africa.