Mohammad Azharuddin played helicopter shot way before MS Dhoni made it popular | Watch

Indian wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni is widely regarded as the promotor of famous helicopter shot in cricket. However, not many people know that former Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin played the helicopter shot way before Dhoni made his international debut and brought the shot under international light by playing it on several occasions. A video is now going viral on social media, showing Azharuddin playing the helicopter shot back in the 90s. 

Azhar's helicopter shot

In the video, Azhar scoops up a yorker by South African bowler Lance Klusener with a helicopter shot. The famous helicopter shot flew off Azhar's bat during a Test series against South Africa in 1996 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Azhar had played the helicopter shot off the fourth ball of Klusener's spell, which was one of the five consecutive boundaries the then Indian skipper had hit in the over. In the match, Azhar also scored a century off just 74 balls, which was the fourth-fastest Test century of that time. 

However, despite Azhar's heroics with the bat, India lost the Test match by a whopping 329 runs. The match was the second of the three-Test matches that India and South Africa played in the winter of 1996. India had won the first Test match in Ahmedabad by 64 runs. After the Proteas defeated India in the second Test match, the host bounced back and went on to secure the trophy by winning the final Test match by 280 runs Azhar emerged as the highest run-scorer in the series with 388 runs to his name, including two centuries and one half-century. 

As far as Dhoni is concerned, the former Indian skipper was last seen in action in the Indian Premier League, where he plays for Chennai Super Kings. After an abysmal season last year, Dhoni and his team played some extraordinary cricket in IPL 2021 to help CSK reach on top of the points table. 

IMAGE: PTI