How to Play a Pull Shot in Cricket: Grip, Stance, and Timing

Viv Richards barely moved his feet and still pulled fast bowlers from outside off to the square-leg boundary, purely off timing and hip rotation. That’s the shot at its purest: a short ball aimed at the stumps, met with a swivel and a horizontal swing, sent to the leg side before the bowler’s even turned around. Get the length and height wrong, though, and it’s the fastest way to lose your off stump or edge one straight to the keeper.

When to Pull

Pull when the ball:

• Pitches short of a good length (at least halfway down the pitch).
• Rises to around waist or chest height by the time it reaches you.
• Is aimed at the stumps or just outside leg — giving you room to swing through.

Anything above chest height calls for a hook instead. Anything too wide of off stump is a cut. Reading length and height early matters more than anything else here.

Grip

Your normal batting grip works. Through impact, the bottom hand (right hand for a right-hander) does most of the work — feel it driving through the ball. Firm grip, not a tense one.

Back Foot Movement

1. Back and across. Push your back foot toward the crease and slightly toward off stump. This puts you at a comfortable height to meet the ball and gets your head inside its line.
2. Weight on the back foot, front foot light, so your hips can swivel freely.
3. Stay side-on briefly, then open your body aggressively through the shot.

The Swing and Contact

Element	Detail
Bat path	Horizontal — swinging across from off side to leg side
Contact height	Waist to chest — do not attempt the pull on balls below the knee
Bat face at impact	Slightly closed (angled downward) to keep the ball along the ground
Head position	Inside the line, eyes level and locked on the ball
Follow-through	Bat finishes across the body, hands travelling down and around

The power comes from the hip swivel, not the arms. Your hips should rotate fully enough that your chest faces the leg-side boundary by the time the ball leaves the bat, closer to a baseball swing than a golf one.

Placement Options

• Midwicket. When the ball’s a touch fuller or you’re slightly early — the ball goes more in front of square.
• Square leg. Well-timed, square of the wicket.
• Fine leg. Late contact or a ball that skids through low, travelling backward of square.

T20 batters often aim deliberately for midwicket or long-on to clear the rope. In Tests, the priority is usually finding the gap and keeping the ball down.

Avoiding Top Edges

The top edge is the shot’s main risk. It happens when:

• The ball rises higher than expected and catches the top edge of a bat face angled upward.
• The head falls away from the line, opening the face.
• The batter is early and gets under the ball.

Keep your head inside the line, watch the ball closely as it rises off the pitch, and aim to hit through the top half of the ball rather than underneath it.

Practice Drill

Have a throw-down partner deliver short balls at varying heights, some at thigh height, some at chest height, some higher. Work on telling pull balls apart from hook balls and leave-alone deliveries. Focus on the back-and-across movement rather than muscling the shot; power shows up on its own once the weight transfer and swivel are synced.