"It's quite demoralizing for a fast bowler" - Steve Smith outlines the essentials for playing a perfect pull shot
Australian batsman Steve Smith broke down the pull shot to its finer detail and explained how he has mastered it over the years. The former Australian captain is one of the finest exponents of the pull shot.
Pull shots are an essential tool to have in the arsenal, especially on the bouncy surfaces of Australia and South Africa. With bowlers extracting bounce from the wicket, it is essential to stay on top of the ball by assessing the length.
Steve Smith explained that it's a shot that can be played with different varieties of deliveries. He feels that since it can be played in different ways, it's a great shot to play in matches. Demonstrating the shot on his YouTube channel, Smith said:
It's a shot that has got me a lot of runs. I think you can play it to so many different balls. So, a ball that's just short of a length, if you pick the length up well, you can get back and pull it from around your waist or if they bowl you a good bouncer, you can still pull that, so it's quite demoralizing for a fast bowler.
You can take the ball wherever you want on the leg-side: Steve Smith
Steve Smith showcased the finer details with a couple of shots in the nets and demonstrated how he plays the shot.
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He explained how to find momentum with the initial trigger movement and the importance of getting a good swivel to connect the shot. He added:
'I guess the keys for me when I'm playing a pull shot, it's that I get a good push off my front foot onto my back foot. I sort of close my foot off, so I'm almost facing the bowler. If you're too side on, it's too hard to get a good swivel in. I sort of get up on my toes and swivel around with it. I think that keeps you nice and balanced and you can take the ball wherever you want from mid-on to all the way over to fine leg.
The former Australian captain will be seen in action during the second leg of the IPL. He was ruled out of Australia's tour of West Indies and Bangladesh due to an elbow injury. He has also been included in the Australia squad for T20 World Cup in the UAE.