When Short Fine-Leg Fielder Uses '100% Of Brain' To Save A Six - WATCH

With an enthralling edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) underway, it is no less than a cricket season in India right now. In parallel to the franchise competition, many local tournaments have been going on across the country. These are mostly tennis ball contests where people may find many bizarre tactics which are yet to be introduced in international cricket. Imagine a fielder positioned at the short fine leg coming in the way of a sure-shot six.

At the global stage, it might be quite rare for a captain to place one of his players right beside the batter in limited-over formats. However, in tennis ball cricket, it has been a very common strategy to restrict big shorts in the death overs. Something similar recently happened in a local tournament. Though the details of the match are unavailable, a video featuring the unique fielding tactics has been going viral on social media.

As per the scoreboard displayed in the clip, the batting side needed a six in the final delivery to chase down a 70-run target in 8 overs. The captain of the bowling unit perhaps assumed that the opposition batter would target the boundary on his leg side. Going by the prediction, he kept a fielder at the short fine leg. The player was seen standing straight while looking at the boundary.

The batter managed to connect the final delivery and struck the ball hard. He tried to clear the fence over the square leg boundary. The ball, however, was stopped by the short fielder. The bowling side was captured celebrating emphatically after snatching the victory with a smart move.

The video was dropped on X (formerly Twitter) with the caption, “Short leg using 100% of his brain.” Many users were left stunned after seeing the rare strategy. One of them commented, “Tennis cricket truly tests and bends the cricketing rule like no other does. Incredible thinking.”

Another viewer called it a “normal tactic in Tennis Cricket when you don’t want a batsman to hit a six.”

“It’s very normal in Village tennis cricket tournaments. This is a one-sided trap not to let the batter hit sixes on that particular side,” commented a user.

Since being shared, the post has accumulated more than 6,35,000 views while garnering over one thousand likes.