Darren Sammy’s 6 sense: How Kieron Pollard stays back and smashes

For a few years now, the old visceral thrill of watching a six has been replaced with a quiet-admiring nod. The first 13 games of this IPL has seen 191 sixes as the science of hitting the maximum has been understood by most batsmen. You could see the method in Kieron Pollard’s four sixes, a hattrick of them came in the final over, against Kings XI Punjab. With his weight on the back foot, he waits for the ball to be released and then drives through the line.

The stance, bat-lift, bat-swing, weight shift, knee-bend – every little detail is now deconstructed and reassembled in a batsman’s technique. Former West Indies skipper Daren Sammy, who has launched 237 sixes in domestic T20s and 149 sixes in international games, gives a masterclass on the art of clearing the boundary.