Cover drive (cricket) Cover drive (cricket) The cover drive in cricket is the act of stroking the ball through the covers with well-timed wristwork and conventional movement of the front foot toward the pitch of a delivery aimed at or outside the off stump. The cover drive is considered one of the most graceful shots playable in the sport. Batsmen able to master the cover drive are usually given especially high praise because of the shot's difficulty in execution and its requirement for exquisite timing. When played to perfection, the cover drive comprises a batsman's seemingly effortless wielding of the blade in a
Indian cricket team in Australia in 2003–04 shots, notable of which were his cover drives through mid-off and extra cover, which saw him open the full face of the bat without an exaggerated follow-through. He leaned in on his drives for the spinners, while he played close to the body for the pacers, with little or no bending of his back. He moved his feet well, and used his wrists to play the ball fine, whenever the ball would stray down to middle-and-leg line. He would also flick the deliveries with no effort at all. For the off-side deliveries, Laxman would either utilize the ball's pace and