Batting in one-day cricket is all about scoring runs and that too as quickly as possible. No one gives two hoots whether your technique is bookish or not! Thus, the top ten one day batsmen I’ve chosen may not be technically class in batting but they do serve the purpose! And that’s what this limited-over game is all about! At the end of the day you need runs on the board, no matter how they come! Here are the ten current batsmen who I feel rule the roost in this modern day game!
10. Andrew Symonds (Australia)
One of the main reasons for Australia’s success in limited over cricket recently. Made his one day debut against Pakistan in Lahore (1998/99). Kept going in and out of the side till the pre-World Cup 2003! But it was in Australia’s very first world cup game against Pakistan where the Kangroos were in a tough situation that he came and rescued them with a bravura knock of 143 off just 125 balls! This cemented his position in the team and he hasn’t looked back since then! Now he is a consistent performer for them and team relies on him heavily! Born in England he always dreamt of playing for Australia and his batting reminds us of David Hookes (an unabashed six hitter)! Andrew struck 16 sixes in the first innings (a world record) batting for Gloucestershire against Glamorgan and total of 20 in the match (another record)! He once turned up barefoot and wearing a cowboy hat for a contract meeting with the then Australian Chief Executive Malcolm Speed!
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
102 77 17 2287 143* 38.11 90.82 2 11 42 0
9. Yuvraj Singh (India)
One of the most naturally gifted and attractive players this game of cricket has ever seen! Made his debut against Kenya in the mini World Cup 2000 at Nairobi! Shocked the champion Australian team with a cracking knock of 84 when India had lost 3 wickets and the score was still in double digits! He was just 18 at that time and has matured a lot in these four years since that time. Lost his place temporarily from the team due to his “inability” to play the spin bowling but made a great comeback in the side with two match winning knocks against Zimbabwe in 2002! Then later his heroic performance in the Natwest Trophy Final in England made him an indispensable part of Indian Cricket team! His knock of 139 against the Kangroos on the recent tour of Australia was rated as one of the best one day knocks by the cricket pundits all over the world!
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
107 94 11 2426 139 29.22 84.91 2 15 40 0
8. Lance Klusener (South Africa)
Made his One Day debut against England in East London (1995/96). Started his cricketing career as a fast bowler and no.11 batsman in first class cricket. Came in the South African team more as a bowling all rounder! But a serious ankle injury in 1998 forced him to drop his pace and he started working more on his batting to be retained in the team! What happened afterwards is history now! Became the man of the tournament in World Cup 1999 for his hard-hitting batting. Spent his childhood with the Zulu children in a sugarcane farm and served for three years in the army! I still can’t forget the way he crucified the Indian bowlers in the 5th one-day match against India in Nagpur in the year 2000. It was all due to Klusener’s magnificence that South Africa managed to score 100 runs in the last 8 overs! Thus, the score, which was a decent 220 after 42 overs, climbed to a Mount Everest total of 320 after 50 overs! Although his peak period seems to be over now, but still on his day he can brutally crush any bowling attack in the world!
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
171 137 50 3576 103* 41.10 89.91 2 19 35 0
7. Andrew Flintoff (England)
Made his One Day International debut against Pakistan at Sharjah (1998/99). The most valuable English player right now! If you take him out of their side, the team looks far less potent! Hits the ball harder than any English batsman has done since Ian Bothom! Some of the special Freddie shots include smashing the fast bowler back over his head, the cover drive and the bludgeon over long on! A couple of flaws that one may find in his batting are his running between the wickets and his lack of good technique for playing on sub-continent tracks! If he gets a 50+ score then England’s win is more or less assured (as can be seen by the ICC Champions Trophy 2004)!
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
79 70 11 2108 123 35.72 93.06 3 13 28 0
6. Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa)
Made his One Day debut against Kenya at Nairobi (1996/97). There is just one word to describe this batsman – Invincible! I can’t think of any cricketing shot, which this man can’t play! The amazingly quick hand-eye co-ordination of this bloke puts him an entirely different league altogether than his counterparts! One of the very few guys in the history of this great game that can play hook shot of the front foot! The trademark Gibbs stroke is the lofted extra cover drive, which he plays inside out. His square cut isn’t too bad either! Facing a six months ban for involvement in Match Fixing did dent his reputation for a while, but he made a great come back in International Cricket and silenced the critics with his bat!
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
156 155 11 4920 153 34.16 81.05 13 19 65 0
5. Ricky Ponting (Australia)
Made his one-day debut against South Africa in Wellington (1994/95) at an age of 20. Ricky Ponting is an ideal modern day cricketer. Plays all the shots in the book with a full flourish of the bat and knows only one way of dealing with bowlers – attack! He has had his ups and downs. There was a stage in his career when he used to work hard for his 20’s, 30’s and 40’s and then used to throw it away! The big knocks were missing! But with time his maturity level has reached new heights and he is a far more consistent player now with big innings in abundance! He was the one who helped Australia win the World Cup 2003 with an unbeaten knock of 140 against India! Still he may face problems against seam bowling (as he is a shaky starter) and high-class finger spin (as he plays the ball with hard hands). But once he settles down any bowler can rarely stop him from reaching the three figures! Is now leading the Aussie team pretty well after the retirement of Steve Waugh! Was in the limelight for wrong reasons also like Drinking and Gambling!
M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St
207 202 26 7361 145 41.82 77.67 15 41 82 0
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