Play in the V! Growing up batsmen hear this catchphrase more than any other piece of advice. And most of the cricketers spend hours in the nets to follow the V to a T.

But some of the prodigies in the due course pick up a skill of their own, which in the longer run helps them adapt to the dynamic versions of the game.

One of the cricketers who seems to have led the revolution of ‘beyond the book cricket’ is AB de Villiers. His outrageously manoeuvred shots have been nothing short of a spectacle. The fun part is that most of what ABD ends up executing on the field would have earned him chastisement had he tried them while growing up.

During his match-winning 44-ball 82 against KXIP in 2019, the South African pulled off a shot that left the fans and experts stunned. The specter drew a collective gasp across the cricketing spectrum.

The second last delivery of the 19^th over, Mohammad Shami ran in. ABD had already clubbed two sixes on the previous two deliveries. Shami’s attempted yorker went wrong and the ball seemed to be heading right at ABD’s body.  But just when everyone thought De Villiers was taking an evasive action – his initially movement suggested so – a single-handed whip, which could have drawn parallels with Federer’s no-look winner, deposited the ball into the stands.

There are certain moments in sport that leave everyone spellbound and this definitely was one of those instances that left the cricket-watching world in absolute disbelief!