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The Forward Defense The Backfoot Defense The Straight Drive The Cover Drive The Pull The Hook The Square Cut The Late Cut The Sweep The Leg Glance

Different Strokes The best batsman in the world make their own rules. Dangerous to drive on the up? Ask Sachin Tendulkar, who makes a good percentage of his runs with that shot. Suicidal to reverse sweep? Ask Andy Flower, the acknowledged master of the shot and one capable of playing it to pace and spin. You never pull the length ball off the front foot? Try telling that to Herschelle Gibbs. Leave the short lifting ball alone outside off? Sanath Jayasuriya has made a career out of slashing them for sixes. But these batsmen break the rules because they have first mastered them. Because they have studied the how-to of every stroke in cricket's grammar and through hours of intense practise, made these shots part of their muscle memory. The theory is simple -- if you do not know the rules, you cannot break them. And so -- the Rediff primer to every shot in the book, and then some. Design by: Rajesh Karkera and Uday Kuckian Compiled by: Afzal Shaikh.