Indians are passionate about three things: cricket, Hindi movies and Hindi (film) music! In this review, I am going to penn down my thoughts of cricket- the game that has moved the largest democracy of the world to a status as near as to be called a religion!
Ladies and gentlemen, presenting is a list of my top ten one-day cricket batsmen whom I have admired over the years. The reasons behind choosing them vary and I have tried my best to jot them down!
Let’s get the ball rolling:
1) Javed Miandad (Pakistan): A gritty old fox. Perhaps the biggest nightmares for Indians in the history on one day cricket! Who can forget the six off the last ball of Chetan Sharma, which ruined his career?! He has always enjoyed a sly personality with a highly positive approach. Maindad still hold the record of appearing in the highest number of World Cup matches.
Ideal batting position: 3rd, 4th, 5th down.
2) Aravinda D’Silva (Sri Lanka): One of the most consistent batsmen in the world, and that not only helped in achieving many a personal milestones for himself and also for his team in any a dire situations. A total crisis-man in a nutshell and widely respected throughout the cricketing world for his skills.
Ideal batting position: 3rd, 4th down
3) Adam Gilchrist (Australia): Dangerous is one word to describe this Aussie dasher, for any opposition. Perhaps the biggest obstacle between India and victory in recent times while playing against Australia. This man has the capacity to snatch away the initiative of game from the opposition in the early overs itself. One of the most aggressive hard-hitting openers in the history of one-day cricket!
Ideal position: 1st , 2nd down
4) Sachin Tendulkar (India): This man has formed such an impeccable impression in the minds of people and so huge is his persona that it is now no longer an eyebrow raiser to consider him as the greatest batsman in both forms of cricket. And a true gentleman too!
Ideal position: 1st , 2nd , 3rd down.
5) Saeed Anwar(Pakistan): I used to wonder how Saeed Anwar almost always came up with his best knocks against India? His batting average against India was superb and highly consistent. A genuine opener material for the ODIs, Saeed Anwar easily finds his place in my top 10.
Ideal position: 1st, 2nd down
6)Sourav Ganguly (India): A captain, for whom the admiration of millions of Indians is growing a fast pace. The world has started acknowledging him in a different mindset now- not only his excellent batting average in both forms of cricket but also now for his aggressive and interactive style of captaincy which has shot up India as the nearest competitors of Australia, as Ricky Ponting rightly pointed out!
I have seen very few batsmen hoiking a left arm spinner straight onto the stands with such ease as Sourav Ganguly.
I’ve heard many people exclaim: “Sourav, apne din, akele hi match ko kheench kar leke ja sakta hain!”
Rahul Dravid famously said: “On the offside, first there’s GOD and then there’s Sourav Ganguly.” Nobody can argue with him on that!
Ideal position: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th (whoops!)
7) Mohammed Kaif (India): A stealth like batsman who is improving with every match. Sourav Ganguly retorted that he has always been a Kaif fan! He has the knack of silently taking away the game from the opposition before they come to grips with the situation. I, like my countrymen (and the Britts, I guess!) can never forget the NatWest trophy finals at Lord’s. Chasing a mammoth 326, Kaif along with Yuvraj and later on with Zaheer made it look like a child’s play against a very spirited English team on their home ground!
And can we ever forget Kaif who made Lahore fall in the recent Indo-Pak match? Excellent!
Ideal position: 6th, 7th down
8) Yuvraj Singh (India): Fast becoming a very consistent middle-order in the Indian line-up. I had to include him with Mohammed Kaif as Yuvraj seems to operate in synchronisation with Kaif and also with Rahul Dravid. Yuvraj is a stylish left-hander and a great runner between the wickets just as Kaif. He will always be remembered for his NatWest Trophy final heroics and his Australian and recently concluded Pakistan exploits!
Undoubtedly, a superb find for India.
Ideal position: 4th, 5th down
9) Vivian Richards (West Indies): A classic batsman and a treat to watch. One of the best exponents of contemporary one-day cricket. West Indies cricket will always be remembered with Vivian Richards both in history and in the future.
Ideal position: 3rd, 4th, 5th
10) Dean Jones (Australia): One of the most flamboyant batsman to hit the one-day scene. A wonderfully gifted player with a wonderful attitude that made him an ideal one-day batsman!
Ideal position: 3rd down
Dear readers, I hope that you have near similarities with my picks. I hope my review has taken you down memory lane to rekindle many a classical innings of these wonderful batsmen
Do let me know about them in your comments!
Till next time,
Keep smiling INDIA ;-)
Enjoyment, happiness, excitement, patriotism!
