Ranking top 5 current batsmen with proper textbook shots

3. Steve Smith

For many, Steve Smith is the modern day batting genius. His weird but unique technique has helped him churn out runs for fun, especially in Test cricket. “What kind of technique is this?”; “He won’t succeed with this technique for long?”; These were some of the reactions when the experts saw him batting early on. And he has proved literally each one of them wrong.

Yes, Steve Smith’s extraordinary shuffling before the bowler delivers the ball is nowhere in the textbook. But the process he follows post his shuffle is important. Smith does everything right a batsman should do and his impeccable hand-eye coordination makes it easy for him.

One would argue that he plays majority of his shots on the leg-side. Yes, but then an ardent Test cricket fan will just advice him or her to watch his knocks in the Ashes last year in England. Those cover drives, backfoot punches, cut shots through the off-side were so sublime that very few will get bored of watching repeatedly.

The technique is very much weird. But then it is working for him and the basics he is following are absolutely spot on which leads to Smith making it to this list. And to add to it, his stats, not long ago, were compared to the all-time great Sir Don Bradman. So the debate ends there!