Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq on Monday (February 17) singled out three batsmen who according to him revolutionized the game of cricket and gave it a new direction with their aggression and innovation.
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In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Inzamam picked three batters from different eras and he started it with the Caribbean legend, Sir Vivian Richards.
“Years ago it was Viv Richards, who changed the game. At that time batsmen used to play fast bowlers on the backfoot but he showed everyone how to play them off the front foot. He taught everyone that fast bowlers can be attacked. He was an ever great player,” he said.
Richards represented West Indies in 121 Tests, amassing 8540 runs at an average of 50.23 whereas he averaged 47 in ODIs across 187 games for his 6721 runs at an incredible strike-rate of 90.20.
The second batsman in Inzamam’s list was Sri Lankan great Sanath Jayasuriya, who aggregated 6973 runs from 110 Tests and 13430 runs from 445 ODIs. Jayasuriya was the Player-of-the-Tournament in Sri Lanka’s 1996 World Cup triumph.
“The second change was brought in by Sanath Jayasuriya. He decided to attack the fast bowlers in the first 15 overs. Before his arrival, the ones who used hit the ball in the air were not considered as proper batsmen but he changed the perception by hitting the fast bowlers over the infield in the first 15 overs,” Inzi opined.
He named Proteas batting maverick AB de Villiers as the third batsman who changed the game of cricket.
“The third player who changed cricket was AB de Villiers. He changed cricket for the third time. I would credit the fast-paced cricket that you see in ODIs and T20s today to de Villiers. Previously batsmen used to hit the straight bat. De Villiers came in, started to hit the paddle sweeps, reverse sweeps,” Inzamam asserted.
De Villiers boasts of quite a few world records to his name. He is the proud owner of the record of being the quickest to reach fifty (16 balls), hundred (31 balls) and 150 runs (64 balls) in one-day internationals. During his 14-year long cricket career, AB amassed 9577 ODI runs in 228 matches at an average and strike-rate of 53.50 and 101.09 respectively. He also proved his mettle in the longest format, scoring 8765 runs in 114 Tests at an average of 50.66.
