5 batsmen with the best away strike rates across all formats

Hard-hitting batsmen have always been a treat to watch for cricket followers ever since the game emerged. Although explosive batting was a primary feature in limited-overs cricket, it has found a strong foothold in Test cricket, too, during recent years. The strike rates of batsmen have gone up and so has the rate at which teams score runs.

There have been quite a few players who have not only maintained a quick rate of scoring across all three formats of cricket but have done so in alien conditions as well. Considering batsmen with a decent amount of limited-overs cricket and at least 10 Tests under their belt, we have come up with a list of the best away strike rates for players across all formats.

Here are 5 batsmen who only know one way of playing irrespective of formats and conditions:

5. Adam Gilchrist - 91.91

Legendary Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist deserves a lot of credit for bringing in the art of power hitting to Test match batting. A left-handed batsman by trade, Gilchrist batted pretty much in the same manner regardless of the format he was playing. He was also equally capable of performing well outside his home conditions.

In 223 matches that the powerful batsman played away from Australia, he scored over 8000 runs at a brilliant strike rate of 91.91. This figure was slightly higher than his overall international career strike rate of 91.43 and shows that conditions did not make any difference to the way Adam Gilchrist batted.

4. Eoin Morgan - 91.99

Eoin Morgan is one of the most dangerous batsmen at present

Apart from being England's current ODI and T20I captain, Eoin Morgan is also one of the mainstays of their limited-overs batting line-up. Known for his innovative shot-making, Morgan has managed to carve his own niche in an English side filled with hard-hitting batsmen like Alex Hales, Jos Buttler and Johnny Bairstow.

Although he has enjoyed most of his success as a batsman in home matches, Eoin Morgan's record has also been quite decent in alien conditions. In 137 international matches away from home, Morgan has more than 3000 runs and he has scored them at a strike rate of just a little under 92, which is greater than his overall figure of 88.09.

3. Virender Sehwag - 93.36

Virender Sehwag is perhaps the most dashing opener in Test history

Former Indian great Virender Sehwag is considered to be among the best openers that the cricketing world has ever come across. More than anything else, it was Sehwag's ability to go after the bowling from the very first ball which made him stand out among the crowd. The best bit was that the dasher from Delhi could bat this way in all three formats.

During his career, Virender Sehwag spread fear among bowlers over the world by taking them to the cleaners in their own backyard. He already had a high strike rate of 92.55 overall in international matches and this inflated further to 93.36 when he played on foreign soil. In fact, the right-hander scored his first triple century outside India, too.

2. Jos Buttler - 115.35

Jos Buttler is known for his aggressive batting

England's wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler is yet to complete 5 years in his international career but has already earned quite a reputation for his ability to hit the ball hard. Buttler has represented England across all three formats and has batted aggressively in all of them. The English cricketer has been at his dashing best more in away conditions than at home.

He has played 82 matches outside England and has nearly 2000 runs under his belt at a tremendous strike rate of 115.35. Buttler's international career strike is comparatively much lower at 103.34 and proves that the Taunton-born cricketer ups another gear when he is batting in foreign conditions.

1. Shahid Afridi - 116.79

Shahid Afridi is one of the craziest hitters that the game has seen

There are very few batsmen across the cricketing sphere who can match Shahid Afridi's prowess of smashing the ball out of the park. The veteran Pakistani made a name for himself solely relying on his power-packed batting early on his career. Since there has not been much cricket played in his country lately, Afridi did most of his batting in foreign conditions.

Out of 523 international matches that he has played, 450 have taken place outside Pakistan. In these matches, Shahid Afridi has a tally of more than 9000 runs and he has scored them at a phenomenal strike rate of 116.79. This figure is marginally higher compared to Afridi's overall career strike rate of 114.16.