So in the last few articles, we’ve covered the key fielding positions that are situated on the off-side of a batsman, starting with the fielders who are situated in the 30-yard circle, then moving to those who are placed outside the 30-yard circle, and then those ones who are placed right under the nose of the batsman. With this we have completed a thorough review of each and every fielding position on the off-side. So we now come to the other half of the fielding positions, i.e- the fielders on the leg side. The leg side of the field is referred from the point of view of the batsman. The side which is away from the batsman is the leg side, and we start of with the first important position of the leg side, and that is “Square leg”.
The square leg is a position that is normally defined as one of the catching positions in cricket, which means that the chances of a batsman getting out caught in this position is higher compared to the others. It is situated in the 30-yard circle, right next to the square-leg umpire. The position is almost at a perpendicular to where the batsman is standing at the wicket, hence called square leg. The square leg stands in a position which is basically an extension of the imaginary line of the popping crease.
The square leg is usually deployed when the bowler is bowling a barrage of short balls to the batsman. Since being one of the catching positions, the short ball technique more often than not brings the square leg fielder in the game more. The fielder has to be alert on all times because of his proximity to the umpire, and that could result in either a collision or a missed chance in a crucial juncture of the game. A deeper version of the same fielder is used to save the boundary when the batsman is an adept player of the pull and the hook shot, which is called the deep square-leg.
One of the most iconic dismissal in this position was that of MS Dhoni in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals. Needing 25 of 10 balls, Dhoni was run-out by Martin Guptill of New Zealand, who was the fielder at square leg, dashing India’s hopes and ensuring that New Zealand would go into the final of the tournament.
