India, May 4 -- He's had, seemingly forever, the ramp shot. The cover-drive, off front foot or back. The off-drive, the bowler's back-drive, the conventional on-drive and the extraordinary flick-drive - all wrists and a touch of bottom hand - that sends the ball soaring over wide long-on. Pulls of various varieties from anywhere between mid-wicket and fine-leg. Oh, and of course, the scything conventional sweep.

A complete stroke-maker, in effect, if you like. And yet, in the last couple of years, he has worked assiduously to bolster his repertoire, playing and practicing and eventually mastering, to the extent that it is possible, the slog-sweep, which has become one of his more productive boundary-fetching strokes in 20-over cricket ag...