Weekend

In the last weekend blog, I had started writing about top 20 all time great batsman. In that blog I listed  batsmen ranked from #20 to  #11. Today I will be writing about remaining top 10 batsmen.

 

#10 Gary Sobers (WI)- he played between 1954-74. Other major teams Barbados, Nottinghamshire, south Australia.

Career Stats in Tests –matches 93,  Runs 8032, Average 57.78, Highest 365, 100s   26.

Gary sobers is arguably the greatest all rounder of all time. Bradman once called him a “ five in one cricketer” because he excelled in all cricketeing skills except wicket keeping.

In 1958, he became the highest test scorer with 365 runs against Pakistan, this record stood for 36 years, It is still 4^th highest test score. His average of 57.78 is best among players who has made 8000+  runs. He is the firt player to hit six sixes in a over in first class match.

#9 Kumar Sangakkara (SL) – he played between 2000-15. Other major teams, Surrey, Warwickshire & Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Career Stats in tests – Matches 134, Runs 12,400, Average 57.40, Strike Rate 54.19, Highest 319, 100s 38.

Career Stats in ODIs – Matches 404, runs 14,234, Average 41.98, strike Rate 78.86, Highest 169, 100s   25.

His last 5 innings in ODI career : 105,117, 104, 124 & 45. He stopped playing when he was at his peak. He is the only player to hit 4 consecutive 100s in ODIs and that too in World cup.

His test average is highest among who have scored 10,000 + runs.

#8 Jacques Kallis (SA) – he played between 1995-2014. Other major teams Cape Cobras, Gmamorgan, Kolkata Knight Riders, Middlesex.

Career Stats in tests- Matches 166, Runs  13,289, Average 55.37, strike rate 45.97, highest 224, 100s  45.

Career Stats in ODIs – Matches 328, Runs 11,579, Average 44.36, Strike Rate 72.89, highest 139, 100s  17.

In test he scored second most centuries after Tendulkar. He holds most man of the match awards in Tests with 23. He has scored 5 centuries in 5 consecutive tests, after Bradman, who scored 6 in 6.

#7 Jack Hobbs (Eng)- played between 1908-30. Other major team Surrey & Maharaj Kumar of Vizianagram’s XI.

Career Stats in Test- Matches 61, Runs 5410, Average 56.94, Strike Rate 42.51, Highest 211, 100s   15.

When he retired, he was the highest run getter in tests. He is oldest player to hit century, posting 142 against Australia in Melbourne 1929, when he was 46 years 82 days old.

He is the only player to score 60,000 + runs in first class cricket, with 199 centuries.

#6 Wally Hammond (Eng) –   he played between 1927-47. Other major teams Gloucestershire, south Africa Airforce.

Career Stats in Tests – Matches 85, Runs 7249, Average 58.45, Highest 336, 100s 24.

He had to stay satisfied as second best since he played in Bradman era. He holds the record for fastest 7000 runs.

He also scored 50,551 runs in first class cricket with 167 hundreds.

#5 Vivian Richards (WI) –  he played between 1974-91. Other major teams Combined Islands Glamorgan, Leeward Islands, Queensland & Somerset.

Career Stats in Tests- Matches 121, Runs 8540, Average 47, Strike Rate 50.23, Highest 294, 100s  24.

Career Stats in ODIs- Matches 187, Runs 6721, Average 47, Strike Rate 90.20, Highest 189, 100s  11.

He was way ahead of his contemporaries-he had a strike rate of 90.2 in ODIs in 1970s & 80s, and without any protective gear.

In 1976, he scored 1710 runs at average of 90 with 7 hundreds from 11 tests.

#4 Brian Lara (WI) – he played between 1990-2007. Other major teams Northern Transval, Southern Rocks, Trinidad & Tobago, Warwickshire.

Career Stats in Tests- Matches 131, Runs 11,953, Average 52.88, Strike Rate 60.51, Highest 400, 100s   34.

Career Stats in ODIs – Matches 299, Runs 10,405, Average 40.48, Strike Rate 79.51, Highest 169, 100s 19.

He was the toughest bowlers to bowl to, this is as per leading bowlers of 1990s and 2000s. His 400 against England in 2004 is highest individual score im tests. His 375 scored in 1994 is third on the list.

#3 Ricky Ponting (Aus) –  he played between 1995-2012. Other major teams Mumbai Indians, Somerset, Surrey, Tasmania.

Career Stats in Tests – Matches 168, Runs 13,378, Average 51.85, Strike Rate 58.72, Highest 257, 100s  41.

Career Stats in ODIs –  Matches 375, Runs 13,704, Average 42.03, Strike Rate 80.39, Highest 164, 100s 30.

He is the biggest match winner for Australia in modern times. He is second highest run getter in tests, 3^rd highest in ODIS and 2^nd highest in world Cups.

#2 Sachin Tendulkar (Ind) – He played between 1989-2013. Other major teams Mumbai, Mumbai Indians.

Career Stats in Tests – Matches 200, Runs 15,921, Average 53.78, Strike Rate 54.08, Highest 248, 100s  51.

Career Stats in ODIs – Matches 463, Runs 18,246, Average 44.83, Strike Rate 86.23, Highest  200,  100s  49.

He is known as “ God of Cricket”. He has scored 100 International centuries, 29 more than 2^nd place Ricky Ponting. He has also scored most runs in World Cups 2278 at an average of 56.95.

#1 Don Bradman (Aus) – played between 1928-48. Other major teams New South Wales, Western Australia.

Career Stats in tests – Matches 52, Runs 6996, Highest 334, 100s 29.

He is greatest batsman of all time. His average of 99.94 in tests is 38.07 more of the next best, Adam Voges (61.87). When he went to bat in his last innings he just needed 4 runs for making the average to perfect 100, but he was out for duck off Eric Hollies. He also holds the record for most runs in series as he scored 974 runs in 7 innings an incredible average of 139.14 in the Ashes series of 1930.

In this list of top 20 batsmen, there is only one current batsman who is still going great guns, and he is India’s Virat Kohli. He has already scored 41 hundreds in approx half the ODIs played by Sachin. He has also scored 25 hundreds in test matches also.  He is still young (30 years) and has at least 6-7 years of career left with him, do not know where he will stand in this list after he retires. With the present indication he  will definitely topple Ricky Ponting from #3 position.

In this list of top 20 batsmen there are 5 Indians, 4 West Indians, 3 Australians, 3 Sri Lankans, 2 Englishmen, 2 South Africans & 1 Pakistani.

So friends how did you find top 20 batsmen series.

Please give your comment/feed backs/ views at the end of this blog, in the space provided.

FRIENDS  THE LAST WEEKEND BLOG WAS MY 400^th BLOG.

This would not have been possible without your constant support and encouragement.

Today is blog no. 403.

 

Anil Malik

Mumbai , India

22^nd Mar 2019