In today’s weekend blog, the topic is on cricket and I am writing about the 20 greatest batsmen ever in the history of cricket. You all know Cricket is batsman’s game. Some batsman paint pictures with their strokes and score runs, some make runs with patience and grit and some destroy the bowling attacks with an onslaught. At the end of the innings, what counts is how many runs are scored, no matter how they were scored.
Following are 20 best match winners/savers with the bat in cricket history.
Please note that, to qualify, batsmen must have scored minimum 5000 runs in tests. For player who played before the introduction of ODI matches on Jan 5, 1971, only Tests are considered.
#20 Adam Gilchrist (Aus) – he played from 1996-2008. Other major teams-Middlesex, New South Wales, & Western Australia.
Career Stats in Tests- matches 96, runs 5570, Av 47.60, Strike Rate 81.95, Highest Score 204, 100s 17
Career Stats in ODIs – matches 287, runs 9619, Av 35.89, strike rate 96.94, Highest score 172, 100s 16
Earlier Wicket keeping used to be a specialised job, but presently if you want to become wicket keeper then you must also bat well. He was the best wicket keeper batsman.
#19 Sourav Ganguly (Ind)- he played from 1992-08. Other major teams Bengal, Glamorgan, Lancashire and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Career Stats in Tests- matches 113, Runs 7212, Av. 42.17, strike rate 51.25, Highest 239, 100s 16.
Career Stats in ODI- Matches 311, Runs 11,363, Av. 41,02, Strike Rate 73.7, highest 183, 100s 22.
In ODIs he formed a formidable opening pair with Sachin Tendulkar, and the duo added 6609 runs (record by any opening pair). He was also the fastest to score 6000, 7000, 8000 & 9000 runs in ODs in terms of matchers played.
#18 Sanath Jayasuriya (SL)- he played from1989-2011. Othe major teams Ruhuna, Somerset and Mumbai Indians.
Career Stats in Tests- Matches 110, Runs 6973, Av 40.07, highest 340, 100s 14.
Career Stats in ODIs-Matches 445, Runs 13,430, Av 32.36, Strike rate 91.2, Highest 189, 100s 28.
He along with his opening partner started the new trend in ODIs, that is lofting the ball over the fielders head in first 15 overs (then power play) during World Cup 1996. This trend changed the complexion of the ODI game, and later this was adopted by all other teams.
#17 Inzamam ul Haq (Pak) – he played from 1992-07. Other major teams Multan ,Yorkshire and Lahore Badshahs.
Career Stats in Tests – Matches 120, runs 8830, Av 49.6, strike rate 54.o2, Highest 329, 100s 25.
Career Stats in ODIS- Matches 378, Runs 11,739, Av 39.52, Strike Rate-74.24, Highest137, 100s 10.
He was back bone of Pakistan’s middle order during his playing days, he was terrible runner between the wickets.
#16 AB de Villiers (SA) – he played between 2004-18. Other major teams Titans, Royal Challengers Bagalore.
Career Test stats- Matches 114, Runs 8765, Av 50.66, Strike rate 54.51, Highest 278, 100s 22.
Career ODI Stats- Matches 228, Runs 9577, Av 53.50, Strike rate 101.09, Highest 176, 100s 25.
He holds the record for the fastest 50 in 16 balls, fastest 100 in 31 balls and fastest 150 in 64 balls in ODIs.
#15 Shivnarine Chandepaul (WI) – he played between 1994-2015. Other major teams Derbyshire, Durham , Guyana.
Career Stats in Tests- Matches 164, Runs 11,867, Av 51.37, Strike Rate 43.31, Highest 203, 100s 30.
Career Stats in ODIs- Matches 268, Runs 8778, Av 41.6, Strike rate 70.74, Highest 150, 100s 11.
His defence was rock solid he spent 1000 minutes at crease between two consecutive test dismissals on as many as four occasions.
#14 Sunil Gavaskar (Ind) – Played between 1971-87. Other major teams Mumbai, Somerset.
Career Stats in Tests- Matches 125, Runs 10,122 runs, Av 51.12, Strike rate 42.51, highest 236, 100s 34.
Career Stats in ODIs- Matches 108, runs 3092, AV 35.13, strike rate 62.26, Highest 103, 100s 1.
WI had set of fiery fast bowlers in 70s & 80s. Batsmen found it difficult to put bat on ball against them, let alone scoring. Then, there was, Gavaskar who scored 2749 runs at an average of 65.45 including 13 hundreds against them. He was first batsman to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket.
#13 Mahela Jayawardene (SL) – Played between 1997-2015. Other major teams Sinhalese sports Club, Somerset, Sussex.
Career Stats in Tests – Matches 149, Runs 11,814, Av 49.84, Strike rate 51.45, Highest 374, 100s 34
Career Stats in ODIs- matches 448, Runs 12,650, Av 33.37, Strike Rate 78.96, Highest 144, 100s 19.
He & Sachin Tendulkar are the only players who has played 600+ matches. Mahela has played 652 matches while Sachin has played 664 matches.
#12 Virat Kohli (Ind) – He is the only current player in the list. He started playing from 2008. Other major teams Delhi, Royal Challengers. Bangalore.
His stats are as of 15th Mar 2019
Career Stats in Tests – Matches 77, Runs 6613, Av 53.76, Strike rate 57.26, Highest 243, 100s 25.
Career Stats in ODIs – Matches 227, Runs 10,843, Av 59.58, Strike Rate 92.96, Highest 183, 100s 41.
He is considered as greatest ODI Batsman of all time, and experts are saying that he would end as Bradman of ODIS. He has scored the fastest 10,000 runs in ODIs.
His winning of all top three ICC awards in 2018, Cricketer of the year, Test Player of the year &, ODI player of the year.
#11 Rahul Dravid (Ind) – he played between 1996 to 2012. Other major teams Karanataka, Kent.
Career Stats in Tests- Matches 164, Runs 13,288, Av 52.31, Strike Rate 42.51, Highest 270, 100s 36.
Career Stats in ODIs- Matches 344, Runs 10,889, Av 39.16, Strike Rate 71.24, highest 153, 100s 12.
Rahul Dravid is perhaps crickets biggest unsung hero, as he was overshadowed by Sachin Tendulkar for most part of his career. He was known as the wall, as opposition found it really difficult to dislodge him. He holds the record of facing most ball s in tests, 31,258 balls.
Balance top 10 (from top 20) batsman will be profiled in next weekend blog.
Awaiting your comments/views/ feed backs.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
16th Mar 2019
R. N. Mungale.
Very good blog as usual.