5 batsmen who played unorthodox shots before AB de Villiers

What is influencing modern day cricket most? Obviously, it is the Twenty20 Format, and because of its inception, both batsmen and bowlers are looking for innovations to sustain themselves at the top level. While the bowlers have developed some variations like the Carrom Ball, Teesra etc., the batsmen have found their own range of shots. Irrespective of the bowler, the batsmen are comfortable in dispatching the ball all around the park with some innovative shots.AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, Eoin Morgan are some names that come to our mind when we talk about unorthodox shots. De Villiers in particular, has a wide range of shots and those have attracted a lot of audiences. It is no lie that the textbook cricket shots are always a treat to our eyes, but playing those innovative shots need some special skills and De Villiers has mastered it to perfection, which has earned him the name Mr 360 degree.  But even before the South African, many other batsmen have tried their hands at those unorthodox shots.Let us take a look at five batsmen who played unorthodox shots before AB de Villiers:

#5 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar’s upper cut

Legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar started playing the upper cut to tackle the bouncers on speedy wickets. If the bowler pitches the ball in a short length and if there is some extra bounce, the batsman just needs to guide the ball over the head of the slip cordon. This is a risky shot as the ball can take the edge of the bat and fly straight to the keeper or slips or even the third man if it is not executed correctly.

After Sachin, his teammate Virender Sehwag started to master this shot. Several batsmen try this shot these days after the field restrictions came into play in the limited overs format.