VIDEO: England women cricketer apes MS Dhoni; plays his signature helicopter shot

VIDEO: England women cricketer apes MS Dhoni; plays his signature helicopter shot

As the Indian skipper for shorter formats MS Dhoni celebrates his 35th birthday today, the media can’t help but go gaga over the ‘Captain Cool’. All sorts of things related to him, like the long locks he once had to his extraordinary finishing skills to his World Cup wins, will get discussed all day long. Similarly, it will be hard not to discuss Mahi’s signature helicopter shot. ALSO SEE: Video: When Sushant Singh Rajput played the MS Dhoni ‘helicopter’ shot.

The Ranchi Rambo reportedly developed the devastating helicopter shot during his early days in cricket when he used to play a lot of local matches. They say ‘necessity is the need of invention’. So when the bowlers bowled to him in the block-hole region, not allowing him any room for a big hit, Dhoni devised this shot, which dispatches the yorker-length balls outside the park. ALSO READ: MS Dhoni biopic’s official poster unveiled!

Since the time he started playing the shot, many others have also tried to emulate him. But as it requires enormous power in the forearms, it was considered too difficult a shot for women’s cricket. But the myth has been broken now, as England women’s team’s player Lauren Winfield recently played it against Pakistan in the first T20I at Bristol on Tuesday.

Winfield,  who scored 45-ball 74 and hit as many as 10 boundaries and one six, played the helicopter shot to near-perfection and got four useful runs through it. Her shot came on the fourth ball of the first over of the match from Amin Anwar. Though it did not quite have the power which is usually associated with it, the shot was definitely pleasing to the eyes. She helped her side, which eventually won the match by 68 runs, post an above par 187 on the board. Watch the video of her helicopter shot here: