Who has the best cover drive? Virat Kohli, Babar Azam or Rohit Sharma?

Rahul Iyer

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Who has the best cover drive? Virat Kohli, Babar Azam or Rohit Sharma? image

One of the most pleasing shots in a batter's arsenal is the cover drive. From the greats of the early days to the stars of today, it is one of the first shots taught to youngsters and one of the most effective ways to score runs.

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The popularity of the cover drive lies not only in the shot's effectiveness, but also in its aesthetic quality. Cover drives are nearly always beautiful, and they only enhance the reputation of the player playing them.

While cover drives often look good, it is an art to make them look easy, which only some batters in world cricket today are capable of. But which one of these has the best cover drive; Virat Kohli, Babar Azam or Rohit Sharma?

Babar Azam: Textbook perfection

Pakistan's Babar Azam is one of the most lethal batters in world cricket. Without playing in an overly flashy manner, Babar has the ability to accumulate a frightening amount of runs, especially if bowlers are not at their best on every ball.

Babar's cover drive has been held up as an example of textbook perfection; it is as if he stepped straight out of the manual.

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From the trigger movement of his back foot, the planting of the front foot, the bat humming through the air and the finish with a high elbow to keep the ball grounded, Babar exhibits a grace that focuses the attention on him, so much so that a viewer can almost forget to see where the ball has gone.

 

Virat Kohli: Fire in the belly

If Babar is someone who personifies grace and plays in a textbook fashion, Kohli is one who is just as effective but in his own way. Babar's cover drive is the epitome of grace and elegance, but Kohli drives with fire and energy.

When Kohli plays a cover drive, he exudes an air of superiority, almost as though he is showing the bowler who is boss. His technique is excellent, like the school topper who has mastered the textbook, but prefers to modify it for his own convenience.

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Kohli's drives crack like a whip, with his wrists generating a tremendous amount of power through the ball. Often, it seems as though the ball has reached the fence even before the bowler has finished their follow-through.

 

Rohit Sharma: Lazy but effective

Babar's grace and Kohli's fire, however, stand in sharp contrast to what Rohit Sharma brings to the table. In a way, Rohit's cover drive says a lot about how he is as a person; laid-back, cool and even borderline lazy.

While laziness is not a virtue normally seen to be extolled on a cricket field, Rohit makes it look spectacular. When driving, his foot movement is minimal; just enough to get the ball within his arms' reach.

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He then brings the bat down slowly, with minimal effort and almost allowing the ball to hit the bat than the other way around. The most breathtaking aspect of a Rohit Sharma cover drive is the amount of time he seems to have before playing the shot. Deliveries at 140 kmph often look no different to those at 90 kmph when he is batting.

 

Ultimately, deciding whose cover drive is best is a futile exercise. All of these represent different ways of batting, of approaching the same delivery. What it really comes down to is the preferences of the viewer. It may be a cliché, but in this case, beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder.

Rahul Iyer

Rahul Iyer Photo

Rahul is a content producer for The Sporting News' India edition.