Vishnu Solanki smashed a last-ball six on Wednesday against Haryana to win the match for Baroda and also to reach into semi-finals of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament. He came into the limelight after playing brilliant knock and because of his helicopter shot. He has revealed that he worked hard to learn the helicopter shot just for the death overs in T20 cricket.
MS Dhoni, the former Indian captain is well known for the helicopter shot and also called the ‘master’ of this shot as he introduced it to international cricket. The shot helps to combat the yorkers of the fast bowlers. Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya also used to play this shot in the death overs of T20I cricket. Solanki played the shot in the last ball of the match between Baroda and Haryana. He scored a stunning 71 off 46 balls to help his team Haryana reach the semi-finals.
After the game, he was asked about the helicopter shot and how he learned from MS Dhoni.
“Actually I practiced a lot and worked very hard for the helicopter shot for the T20 format. Whenever I used to get free time after practice, I would practice this shot in the hope that it would help me in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy,” Solanki told ANI.
“I had learned this shot, especially for the ‘death’ overs because, during the last few overs of the innings, a fast bowler generally tries to bowl yorkers. In the last four-five overs, the bowler goes for the yorkers. That is why I learned this shot. I had been working hard on this shot for the last three-four months in Baroda. I used to see Mahi Bhai,” he said.