cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, pinch hitter or slogger is the usual term for a

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

(not a substitute, unlike in baseball) promoted up the batting order in order to score quick runs. As attempting to score runs quickly involves playing more aggressive shots and thus an increased likelihood of being dismissed, it is generally considered unwise for a top-order batsman to attempt this. Therefore, a lower-order batsman (such as a bowler) is sometimes promoted. There is less importance placed on his wicket, so he can play with more freedom. This is an important tactic in

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

cricket, with its occurrence in

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

far less regular. The term was relatively recently introduced to cricket and was unfamiliar to many cricket followers before the 1992 World Cup.

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

employed a slightly different form of the tactic to considerable effect with Mark Greatbatch playing the pinch-hitting role. This was among other innovative tactics New Zealand employed successfully during the round-robin stage to reach the

knockout stage A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. It has since been used throughout limited overs cricket, with the aggressive batsmen known as "pinch-hitters." However, "pinch hitter" usually refers to an aggressive batsman moved up the batting order from his usual place, used in situations where scoring runs quickly becomes more important than keeping wickets in hand. Pinch hitters are known for their big hitting and high strike rates. However, they sometimes lack the technique of higher-class batsmen and therefore often go out for low scores through their excessive attacking. This is not the same as a " nightwatchman" used in Test and first-class matches.

Examples of pinch hitters

* - Mohammad Rafique * -

Mehidy Hasan Miraz Mehidy Hasan Miraz (Bengali: মেহেদী হাসান মিরাজ; born: 25 October 1997) is a Bangladeshi international cricket player who plays Tests and One Day Internationals (ODIs) for the Bangladesh national team. A bowlin ...

* - Shahid Afridi * - Hasan Ali * -

Mitchell Starc Mitchell Aaron Starc (born 30 January 1990) is an Australian international cricketer who plays for the Australian national team and New South Wales in domestic cricket. A left-arm fast bowler and a lower order left-handed batsman, Starc repres ...

* - Ash Gardner * - David Miller * - Chris Morris * - Sunil Narine * -

Ravichandran Ashwin Ravichandran Ashwin () (born 17 September 1986) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a bowling All-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm off-break, he plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic cric ...

* -

Ravindra Jadeja Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja (born 6 December 1988), commonly known as Ravindra Jadeja, is an Indian international cricketer. He is an all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm orthodox spin. He was the captain of the Chennai Su ...

* -

Hardik Pandya Hardik Himanshu Pandya (born 11 October 1993) is an Indian international cricketer. An All-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast-medium, Pandya has played in all 3 formats for India. He also plays for Baroda cricket team in do ...

* -

Rishabh Pant Rishabh Rajendra Pant (born 4 October 1997) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team as a wicket-keeper batter. Having played all formats for India, he is best known for his consistency to score runs in Test ...

* -

Mitchell McClenaghan Mitchell John McClenaghan (born 11 June 1986) is a New Zealand international cricketer who plays limited over internationals for New Zealand national cricket team, New Zealand. Domestically, he plays for Otago cricket team, Otago in New Zealan ...

* - David Willey * -

Sam Curran Samuel Matthew Curran (born 3 June 1998) is an English cricketer who plays for England in all formats. In domestic cricket, he represents Surrey, and has played in multiple Twenty20 leagues, including for Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super King ...

References

* ''The Times of India,
Why is a pinch hitter in cricket called so?
'', Published 16 Feb 2003, Retrieved 18 June 2014 * Martin Williamson, ''Cricinfo,

'', Retrieved 18 June 2014 {{refend Cricket terminology Batting (cricket) Cricket captaincy and tactics