The flick shot on the leg side by the batsmen is one of the most elegant shots in the book. It does involve a lot of risk for the batsmen as it could go up in the air. It is also one of the toughest shots to play as the timing is very important. There are certain players in the game who have been able to master the flick shot. One advantage for the batsmen is that the shot is very productive always. Picking the gap in the field is very important while playing the shot too and here are the top 10 flick shot players in cricket.
Steve Smith
The Australian batsman Steve Smith scores most of his runs on the leg side. He has a very unorthodox approach which has been very effective so far for him in Tests especially. Smith is considered to be one among the fab four in world cricket at the moment as he averages around 62 in the long format. He is ranked second in ICC Test rankings and he uses the flick shot to score plenty of runs. Smith is a predominantly leg-side player and is one of the best flick shot players in Tests.
Sanath Jayasuriya
The former Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya was very aggressive in his approach in any format. He played 110 Tests for his country and scored 14 centuries in the format. Jayasuriya is very good on the leg side and he has a wide range of shots in the area. The left-hander plays the pick-up shot and the flick shot really well even in the Test format. He is one of the greatest to have played from his nation and certainly played the flick shot really well during his career.
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is one of the best batsmen of the modern-day in all formats and he is a very wristy player. He used the bottom hand to his advantage and flicks the deliveries even that are bowled in the middle stumps. He is so good with the shot that it is a must for the bowlers not to bowl to him straighter. Kohli has a wide percentage of his runs made on the leg side and he is equally effective on the offside as well. He is definitely one of the masters in playing the flick shot in cricket. Read about Virat Kohli’s ability to play cover drives in detail.
VVS Laxman
Former Indian batsman VVS Laxman is often associated with the “leg glance” shot in Tests but he does play the flick shot really well. The right-hander won Tests for India from improbable situations and he was excellent on the leg side. Laxman’s famous knock of 281 against Australia in the Eden Gardens Test contained a lot of flick shots too. He was one of the best players of the flick shot in the country.
Adam Gilchrist
Adam Gilchrist is considered to be one of the greatest wicket-keeper batsmen of all time and he changed the era completely. The left-hander apart from his excellent wicket keeping skills was a prolific batsman as well and he played the flick shot really well throughout his career. He flicked the deliveries from the middle stump with some impeccable timing which helped his run-scoring always. He was a free stroke maker always and punished anything on his legs.
The above video is one of the best tons ever made by Gilly. You can see all kinds of shots made into perfection, especially when he did two flicks back to back against the mighty Steve Harmison to move from 81 to 89.
Mohammad Azharuddin
Former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin was a very wristy player and he had a lot of elegance about his game. He played the flick shot to perfection even against the best bowlers in the world. Azharuddin was very strong on anything in the middle and the leg stump and pounced on every opportunity. His two consecutive flick shots against Lance Klusener will be unforgettable always.
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar is considered to be the greatest batsman, the game has ever seen and he holds almost every record in the book. Tendulkar was popularly called the little master for his excellent conviction over the shots he played. He played the straight drives better than anyone in the game but he also was a brilliant player of the flick shot. He flicked anything on the middle and off stump line and was happy to get anything on the pads. It was a delight to watch him bat in any format and he is the overall highest run-getter in both ODIs & Tests.
Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid was another legendary batsman who had a great career for India in the longer format especially. Dravid did not miss anything on the leg side and he had strong wrists which helped him to play the flick shots efficiently. He played the flick shot against the World’s fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar too and apart from that, he was very strong in the square-cut shot too. He had a strong defense which helped him to achieve the record of playing the most number of balls in test cricket.
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen had an unorthodox batting technique which was ideal for the subcontinent spin conditions. However, he had a great career for England in the longer format and the right-hander manufactured a lot of shots towards the latter part of his career. Pietersen played the flick shot really well and he grabbed a lot of runs through the shot in particular. He had a pretty lower stance which made him dominate anything on the pads especially. He was one of those unusual productive users of the flick shot from the Western region.
Babar Azam
The current Pakistan captain Babar Azam still has a long way to go in his international career but is already among the best batsmen. The right-hander has a pretty good technique that makes an excellent player of fast bowlers. He uses his bottom hand to his advantage and plays the flick shot on anything bowled in the middle stumps. He has made use of the flick shot exceedingly well and is expected to continue his dominance with the shot in the upcoming years too.
