Among the list is Misbah-Ul-Haq, we cannot forget his paddle shots in 2008 season

Duh! Give credit where it is due. The first batsman to successfully use the so-called dilscoop was a No. 10 Zimbabwe batsman, Douglas Marillier.

"The shot was first attempted (and successfully so) by Sri Lankan limited-overs opener Tillakaratne Dilshan in the IPL of 2009"

this shots been played so many times before. even in the 90s moin khan executed it so many times he became well known for it

This shot is not Dilshans invention...Pakistan lost the 2007 worldcup when Misbah got caught attempting to get a four by playing this shot!!!

Did you watch Morgan's reverse reverse sweep and reverse flick ? Instead of worrying about placemeent and elevation for a ball outside off, isn't simple to just flick it just wide off the keeper.

The area behind the keeper was opened up as a scoring zone by upper cuts itself. Check Sachin in Perth 2008. I think Mcscoop was even more spectacular. He was scooping Tait thunderbolt yorkers. Dilshan was scooping short of good length deliveries but Mccullum ramped near yorkers. Pollard ramped a Nehra low full toss. And seeing Dilshan 2010, it is obvious that scoops, paddles etc are only meant for good times. In bad times, its the old fashioned drives, cuts and pulls that will help you.

Innovation? No, sir. This is like saying that KP invented the reverse sweep, or that reverse swing didn't exist before the last decade. Try Shivnarine Chanderpaul against New Zealand in 2002 ODI series. After spending the middle overs retired hurt, back from a trip to the hospital, he took 15 runs off the last over, including a deliberate scoop over the keeper's head for a boundary. There is nothing new under the sun.

I remember Saurav Ganguly playing the shot over the wicket-keeper's head in that monumental final against Pakistan in Dhaka long before Dilshan. Also Misbah played the lap shot regularly in the first T-twenty world cup, including the fatal last shot

The scoop shot has been widely but erroneously credited as an innovation created by Dilshan, whereas in fact the shot was first introduced to International cricket by Mohammed Ashraful the Bangladesh cricketer. The first time I recall seeing him playing the shot was in the 2005 ODI Bangladesh vs Australia played in Cardiff (ODI no 2250). In fact in the early days the commentators referred to it as 'the Ashraful'.

I think the author is trying to make a point that batsmen have now crossed the final frontier. The inventor of the scoop is a matter of dispute, but Dilshan made it popular and was among the first few if not the first to use it so consistently.
Bowlers are also innovating.We have the slow bouncer.
Captains are innovating by opening with spinners. True, we will see more innovation

Not just the batsman, the bowler also is forced to start innovative things - slower bouncer and also tactics like bowling round the wicket and many other things have been tried

Couldn't agree more with Arvind - Marillier almost won a World Series Cup match at the WACA by playing his "ramp shot" (as it was then called) twice for boundaries off Glenn McGrath. As per usual, cricket journos just copying "facts" from each other leading to a re-writing of cricketing history! Anyway, well done Doug for creating the "Dougie-scoop"!

I think most of the guys have misunderstood the definition of innovation. There is a hugedifference between invention and innovation. Simply put, Invention is the discovery of something novel and innovation is successfully converting an invention to a commercially viable product which gains recognition and acceptance (in business terms). There had been millions of inventions in the human history but only a few have become innovations. The the key to success of an innovation is the execution of an act at the right time, at the right place and of course in a right way. I think this is what Dilshan has done..and thats why he has gained recognition over several others mentioned above.....I'm sure this is a shot played frequently at club levels specially in the subcontinent... So we really dont know who played it first.. But no body has been as successful as Dilshan.. So let's give him the credit.

Within the short space of the 7 comments preceding mine, 6 different names have been proposed as that of the inventor of the ramp shot.

Moin Khan
Douglas Marillier
Misbah (ul Haq)
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Saurav Ganguly
Mohammed Ashraful

Each of the 6 proposers seem unaware that the other 5 proposees ever played the ramp shot. However i'm pretty sure all 6 of them will agree that Dilshan did and does play it!

Therefore I move to propose Dishan as the creator of the ramp shot until either

1. everyone else agrees on a suitable alternative, or

2. every single First Class cricketer who ever swung a stick of willow is proposed as the true inventor

:)

Ryan Harris (the reserve wicketkeeper) was playing that shot for Australia years before Dilshan OR Ashraful. He notably played it once against Bangladesh off Guy Whittall.

Yes. all these cricketers may have played it probably. But all the world saw it in 2009 in Dilshan doing it in style and it made him the highest run taker 2009.James is right and it's fair to give credit Dilshan.

Innovation in Cricket shots would add to the glamour. But, Mahela made legitimate and stylish shots to pile up most of his runs. Now, he is the leading run maker. Almost all leading run makers are top class batsman playing to the book.

Come on you all my freinds, James would not believe the kind od response from all of you in such fashion. All of you given credit to various playes, who are fine players no doubt, but I agree with Jammes on one point, I believe Dilshan plays this short more sucessfully then other plays, and yes T20 will provide more entertiement and innovation to the game of crickt.

Yeah.. this may not be invented by Dilshan.. but think about the execution. No one executed this shot better than Dilshan! Dil's Scoop is executed in a different manner than the other lap shots played by the other players. Just check out some close pics.. & who has scored the most from that shot.??

Yes, its been done before, but no one plays the Dilscoop as successfully or gracefully as Dilshan himself. Watch the footage. He's turned this stroke into a work of art.

In recent times Zimbabwe batsman Douglas Marillier brought it back during the 90's. But it was invented at least 80 years in English county cricket. Yes T20 or even ODI's weren't needed to create innovative batting shots.

I guess this was an Oops by the writer. I have seen Moin Khan attempting the so called scoop and successfully converting into a four.

this is SUCH an interesting article! so far in the T20 world cup there has been nothing new, or that we haven't seen before. maybe the author is right. only time will tell!

You are kidding yourself if you think something is an "innovation" in this great and glorious game of cricket. It's all been done before and it is never long before the whell turn around again and it is fashionable again. I blame sports journalists with a eye for sensationalism and none for fact or history.

scoop is not the onlt way to score runs over wicketkeepes head.... sachin scored in that region quite regularly off bret lee's short pitched deliveries in australia.... yes that shot can't be played off over pitched balls but the limitation holds on scoop as well which can't be played off short pitched balls.

I would say that the scoop has been played over many years, who knows that who might have scored before Sachin Tendulkar, Moin Khan and many others. I the the credit should be equally distributed between everyone who has successfully managed to play a scoop or play a reverse sweep.

lets give credit where credit is due,because all the world talk about that shot after dishan played it frequently in 2009 T20 world cup,

it could be true that 100 others may have scooped the ball over the wicketkeepers head .. but i guess the difference is Dilshan plays it in more methodological way ... like a proper shot ..rather than just throwing the bat

I think there is happening a bit of confusion over here. Actualy writer is right here. Few others mentioned above like sachin,ashraful,moin all were playing paddle sweep that goes through the fine leg not through wicket keeper's head. Its Dilshan who mastered the most defficult and dangearous stroke. Defference between his stoke and the others is others move their body to off side to play it fine but dilshan actualy move his head by keeping his body in line to play it over the keeper's head. Its pretty unique comparing to others. So he is rightly called it diluscoop.

Guys... THE credit should goes to the commenttater. because he the one who start to talk about widely in that international match by saying its a dilscoope and its innovation. after that only all are start to talk NO ITS NOT DILSHAN PLAYED some body els play Early this guy play that guy play like stories come out.and become popular about scoope shot.WELL DONE the commentater who ever the person who bring so much to talk about dilscoope.