With no international or domestic cricket going on due to the Coronavirus pandemic, former and current cricket stars are keeping themselves busy with different activities.
While some are engaging with fans on social media, some are picking their all-time XIs and favourite players from the past and modern-day cricket.
Recently, former Australia skipper Michael Clarke named the best batsmen he played with or against during his illustrious career.
Speaking on the Big Sports Breakfast on Tuesday (April 7) morning, Clarke chose seven batsmen and gave an explanation behind the selection of each one.
He started with the Caribbean legend Brian Lara and said: “Probably my favourite batsman through my career. You look at statistics and his average is probably not as high as others names on this list but it was the way he played, whether that it was against fast bowlers or spinners.”
“It was the success he had against Australia. That’s the other thing about these batsmen I’ve picked is that they all dominated Australia.
“You think of an attack with McGrath, Gillespie, Brett Lee, Shane Warne — these guys bowling to these batsmen — and they all found a way to have success.”
At No. 2, Clarke placed the Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar.
Terming him as the hardest batsman to dislodge, the ex-Australia captain said: “Probably technically the best batsman I ever saw. The hardest batsman to get out. I think Sachin, technically, didn’t have a weakness. Part of you hoped that he made a mistake.”
Tendulkar was followed by his compatriot Virat Kohli in Clarke’s top batsmen list.
Speaking of the current India captain, he stated: “I think right now the best batsman across all three formats. His one-day and T20 records are phenomenal and he’s also found a way to dominate Test cricket. What Kohli and Tendulkar have in common is they love making big hundreds.”
South African batting maverick AB de Villiers and legendary Proteas all-rounder Jacques Kallis were the next to feature in Michael Clarke’s list.
“I’m hoping he comes back and plays for South Africa again. Superstar. Can bat anywhere in the order. Dominates T20 cricket. He can score runs anywhere around the ground,” he said of De Villiers.
Commenting on Kallis, Clarke said: “The greatest all-rounder that I played against. The impact he had against Australia, the way he was able score runs against our attack was extraordinary.”
Despite playing with a number of Aussie batting greats, Clarke picked only Ricky Ponting in this elite list.
“He’s probably the best Australian batsman I played with. I was lucky enough to play with some great batsmen — Matthew Hayden, Steve Smith, David Warner, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn who was a genius. What separates Ricky is the era that he played. Just about every attack had two or three top-line, world-class bowlers and he was able to dominate them,” he explained.
Last but not the least, Sri Lankan batting giant Kumar Sangakkara made it to the list.
“He seems to be forgotten regularly. Phenomenal. Batted at number three which I think is the toughest position. I think he scored three hundreds in a row in a World Cup. Sangakkara was a force and an absolute gentleman of the game,” Clarke remarked.
