The ‘helicopter shot’ is one of the many trademarks of India’s matador, MS Dhoni. Several modern superstars have done their bit to replicate the shot and include it in their artillery.
The history of the famous shot is well-documented in Dhoni’s biopic ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’. One of Dhoni’s close cricketer friends developed the shot which fascinated the Ranchi-born batter.
Soon, Dhoni brought his trademark whip of the wrist, with a 720-degree follow-through, in the international front. The shot is mostly hit against the unplayable yorkers of speedsters like Lasith Malinga, depositing the ball over the mid-wicket fence.
In recent years, marquee all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Rashid Khan have also developed a fascination for the shot, and have been seen successfully replicating it.
In a recent video uploaded by Sunrisers Hyderabad on their Twitter handle, Rashid can be seen practising the ‘helicopter shot’ at his home-ground.
Rashid was quickly able to dislodge a left-arm pacer, who bowled a full -delivery, towards long-on. That too, in his traditional Pashtun clothing.
🚁🤯#OrangeArmy #SRH | @rashidkhan_19 pic.twitter.com/P4vg1OGavz
— SunRisers Hyderabad (@SunRisers) July 24, 2020
Rashid has executed the shot successfully in the recent outings for SRH in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well as the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League (BBL).
With the 2020 season of the IPL slated to commence from September 19, the wily wrist-spinner will resume his stint with SRH, under the captaincy of David Warner.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) were recently announced as the hosts for the tournament. With the overgrowing cases of COVID-19 pandemic in India, the cash-rich league was moved to the Middle-East.
It is not the first time UAE hosted the highly proclaimed best T20 league in the world. Amidst national elections in 2014, the first half of the league was held on the grounds of Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
