10 of the Best Batsmen of 2013
Most of the batsmen in the history of cricket games are now being ranked accordingly by the ICC (International Cricket Council) Player Rankings, a system of rankings that is widely followed for international cricketers. Sponsored by Reliance Mobile, the idea of the rankings originally came from Ted Dexter in 1987. Instead of comparing their averages, they check for the players’ current standings to ensure that there are no gaps for match conditions or the strength of the opposition while the ratings are based from the recent form and account. Due to this effort, other cricketers are being recognized aside from their earnings and awards.
It was intended for the Test cricket series only until they decided to include ODI (One Day International) rankings separately. The rankings are maintained by David Kendix.Up to this date, many would still look after these ratings to see who scores the most or the players who also contribute to the game.
10.Alastair Cook
Alastair Nathan Cook is a left-handed opener and the captain for the English Tests and ODI cricket teams. He plays for Essex county cricket team. He made his debut when he played for Essex Academy in 2003 for the first XI. Since then, he played for various teams from 2000. Cook is also noted to be the youngest cricketer to score 1,000 runs on his first year and subsequently reached 1,500, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 Test runs. However, the number of centuries he earned had declined throughout 2008. He went back gaining 2 centuries in 2009 and scored 95 against Australia sealing England’s first victory against them at Lord’s since 1934.
Cook has been ranked on the 10th and 9th spot for the top 10 Test and top 10 ODI batsmen with 737 and 678 for the ratings respectively; making him one of the best cricketers on the field.
9.Younis Khan
Pakistani-born cricketer and former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team, Mohammad Younis Khan has often corrected people with his name. He is a right-hand batsman and a right-arm medium bowler.
He had been chosen as the captain for Pakistan national cricket team several times such as when the played against West Indies in 2005. He was also offered the position for the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy after InzamamulHaq’s suspension. He declined the offer at first but then on October 7, 2006, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced his captaincy for the tournament.
According to the latest ICC Player Rankings, he tied with Ian Bell with a rating of 748 for the top 10 Test Batsman.
8.Ian Bell
31-year-old Ian Ronald Bell marks the 8th spot despite that he tied with Younis Khan. He is an English cricketer who represents the England cricket team in the international cricket and plays county cricket for Warwickshire County Cricket Club. Being a right-handed higher or middle order batsman, he was once described by The Times as an “exquisite rapier”; making him one of the few batsmen to score a test century against all current test playing nations excluding Zimbabwe. Bell has been awarded as Man of the match for several games including against Zimbabwe on November 28, 2004, Pakistan on September 8, 2006, and India on August 21, 2007.
7. Jacques Kallis
South African cricketer Jacques Henry Kallis ranks 7th with 756 for the ratings. He was born on October 16, 1975 and is a right-hand batsman and right-arm fast-medium swing bowler. Recently, he was known as the only cricketer to score more than 11,000 runs plus 250 wickets in both One-day and Test match crickets in the game history. Kallis was the fourth player and the first South African to score 13,000 Test runs on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand this year. He was awarded as the Test player of the Year by ICC Awards in 2005.
6.CheteshwarPujara
Pujara plays for Saurashtra in domestic while representing the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL as a right-handed batsman. He made his first-class debut for Saurashtra in December 2005 then later on at Bangalore in October 2010 for the Test. He got a rating of 777 making him 6th for the top 10 Test batsmen. During his Test career, he was selected for the Indian team for 2 matches against Australia replacing Yuvraj Singh in 2010. Since then, he became the second fastest Indian to score 1,000 Test runs during the course of his double hundred against Australia in March 2013 and at Hyderabad where he had a 370-run record.
5.Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke has been a right-hand middle-order batsman representing the Australian cricket team as captain for Test and ODI. When he was young, all he wanted was to bat until he became one of the game’s most professional players. He is reliable enough for the national team to choose him to lead the game. One of his methods is to find any gaps by handing the ball on the ground. Clarke’s throw is as fast and accurate as anything in the game that he could confuse the batsmen out with his left-arm spin. This has made him to reach the rankings at 5th with 853 for the ratings.
4.K Sangakkara
Born on October 27, 1977, Kumar Sangakkara is a left-handed top-order batsman and the wicket-keeper in the ODI (One Day International) and Twenty20 games. He led the Sri Lanka national cricket team from 2009 to 2011. He was later on awarded as the ODI Cricketer of the Year at the ICC awards ceremony the same year then recognized as one of the top-five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2012. With a rating of 866 making him the top 6 among the Test batsmen, this lad has been described as one of the “most polished and prudent batsmen” in cricket history. He was the first cricketer to ever score more than 150 in four consecutive Test games.
3.AB de Villiers
Another South African cricketer to top the list, Abraham Benjamin de Villiers represents the South African ODI team as captain and plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. He ranks 3rd in the Test batting rankings with a rating of 879 and 2nd in the ODI batting rankings with a rating of 845. Usually nicknamed as AB, he scored the seventh fastest century in ODI cricket with 58 balls surpassing the unbeaten 102 off with 59 balls against India in February 2010. Aside from playing cricket, he enjoys golf, rugby and tennis. He made his Test debut when he was 20 years old on December 16, 2004 against England.
2.S Chanderpaul
S Chanderpaul or ShivnarineChanderpaul, is a Guyanese cricketer and the former captain of the West Indies cricket team. This left-handed batsman is known for his unorthodox batting stance that looked like a crab as well as the first Indo-Caribbean to play 100 Tests for West Indies. He made his international debut when he was 19 years old. However, he did not get any century for the first three years. He underwent a surgery remove the floating bone from his foot in 2000. Since then, he produced remarkable performances on the field as a consistent batsman. He ranks 2nd for the Test batting rankings with a rating of 880.
1. HMAmla
This professional cricketer, raised in a South African Indian Muslim family,tops the Test and ODI batting rankings with the ratings of 903 and 853 respectively. He is a right-handed top order batsman and an occasional medium-pace bowler making him the first South African to score a Test match triple century and the first batsman since Ricky Ponting to lead both Test and ODI rankings. This year, he was awarded as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. His debut was made when he played for his provincial team, the KwaZulu Natal Dolphins, after graduating from high school. Later, he played in Eden Gardens, Kolkata for his international debut.