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Over the years there have been many batsmen who have played one amazing innings after another and staked their claim to greatness. However, there are a select few who just took greatness to a whole new level. Throughout their career, they weaved magic with their bat and left the spectators spellbound. But these players were only human. While they had an amazing run of form against a few teams wherein they accumulated truckloads of runs, they ended up falling short against a few others. Here’s a look at some of these batsmen and their performances against notable opponents:P.S : This list includes only players who have retired from the game. Some of the active greats like Kumar Sangakkara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul have therefore not been included.
#1 Sir Don Bradman
Considered to be the greatest batsman in the history of the game, Sir Don Bradman’s average stands unsurpassable till date and it is also pretty likely that it will stay that way for many years to come. His staggering average of 99.94 bears testimony to the fact that he excelled against all opponents. Moreover, that average is over 52 Tests in a career that lasted 20 years, from 1928 to 1948, making it look all the more impressive.
In 37 matches played against arch-rivals England, Sir Don played 63 innings and scored 5028 runs at a staggering average of 89.79. The sample size and the numbers that go with it are enough proof of Bradman’s legendary status. In 8 Ashes series he featured in, there were 7 in which he scored atleast 2 centuries.
Overall he scored 19 centuries versus England, 6 of which were double hundreds and 2 of which were triple hundreds. This just goes to show the hunger for runs he had and the liking he had in particular for the English bowlers.
His worst average, which actually is not bad by any means, was against the West Indies. One of the reasons why he did not have as big an average vs the West Indies as against the other teams was that he did not manage to stay unbeaten in any of the 6 innings he played against the men from the Carribean.
So, in Sir Don’s case, it would be safe to say that he didn’t dread coming up against any opposition in the world during his time.
#2 Sachin Tendulkar
This man needs absolutely no introduction. He holds almost all possible batting records in the book and has a God-like status among his fans. In a career spanning 24 years, he enthralled his fans by playing one breathtaking innings after another. He featured in a record 200 Test matches, and ended up with an excellent average of 53.78, also notching up 51 Test tons in the process.
Right through his career, the Little Master enjoyed playing against the Aussies. He scored 3,630 runs against them at an excellent average of 55.00, including 11 tons. Given the fact that the Aussies were the most dominant and accomplished team of his era, the 41-year old's class becomes all the more obvious.
Irrespective of whether the series was played in India or Australia, Sachin always brought his A-game to the fore. An example of this is the Sydney Test of the 2003-04 Border-Gavaskar series. The Mumbaikar was really struggling, having scored a mere 82 runs at an average of 16.40, leading up to the Sydney Test.
On 3 occassions, he was out caught behind. So in this particular innings, he came out with a steely resolve of not having to do anything for deliveries bowled outside the off-stump. He stayed unbeaten on 241 and helped India post a mammoth score of 705/7 declared. Interestingly, of the 33 boundaries that Sachin hit in this innings, not even one was through the cover region.
One team that really gave the Master Blaster a hard time was New Zealand. The numbers surely do suggest otherwise, because he averaged 46.91 versus the Kiwis. What is really interesting about these numbers is that he played really well against New Zealand in New Zealand where he scored 842 runs at an average of almost 50. In India, however, he scored 753 runs at a moderate average of 34.22.
In fact in the 2012 series vs New Zealand at home, Sachin was out bowled in all the 3 innings that he played. He got so frustrated with it that he almost took his anger out on the stumps in the Test played at Bengaluru.
Thus, to conclude, in Tendulkar's case:
Favorite Opposition: Australia
Worst Opposition: New Zealand
#3 Ricky Ponting
Arguably the next best Australian batsman after Sir Don, he was one of the highest run-scorers of his era. Over the course of 168 Tests, Punter scored 13,378 runs at an average of 51.85 and registered 41 tons in the process. He really loved taking the attack to the opponents even in Test match cricket, evident from his strike-rate of 58.72 in the longest format.
For some reason, Punter always saved his best for Pakistan. He amassed 1,537 runs runs against Pakistan at an average of 66.82 which included 5 centuries, with his highest score being 209. Towards the fag end of his career, however, he was no longer the Ponting of old and struggled against most teams.
Against arch rivals England, the former Aussie captain aggregated 2476 runs at an average of 44.21 including 8 centuries. In Ashes series' played in England, the Tasmanian scored 1323 runs at an average of 44.1 whereas at home, he scored 1153 runs at an average of 41.17. His struggles facing up to the English bowlers were relentlessly exposed in the 2010-11 Ashes played in Australia.
In the 4 games he played, Ponting managed a mere 113 runs at a sorry average of 16.14. There were many who called for his head, and eventually, that was the last Test series in which he led Australia.
Thus, to conclude, in Ponting’s case:
Favorite Opposition: Pakistan
Worst Opposition: England
#4 Jacques Kallis
He's one of the greatest all-rounders to have ever played the game. He, time and again, rose to the occassion with both bat and ball and literally carried the entire team on his shoulders. The South African great scored 13,289 runs at an excellent average of 55.37. His tally of 45 Test tons is second only to Sachin Tendulkar.
West Indies was Kallis’ favorite opposition. He scored 2,356 runs against the men from the Carribean at a whopping average of 73.63, including 8 hundreds. In fact, his liking for the West Indies bowling attack was so much that in one series played in the 2003-04 season, he scored a hundred in every match played.
England was the team against whom Jakes found it difficult to get going. Especially in Tests in England, he did not have a particularly good time. He managed 848 runs in England at an average of 35.33 which was largely boosted thanks to an innings of 182* at The Oval. His struggles while batting in England have been depicted in the below video.
Thus, to conclude, in Kallis’s case:
Favorite Opposition: West Indies
Worst Opposition: England
#5 Brian Lara
The Prince of Trinidad is the next batsman that features on this list. He holds the record for the highest indvidual score in Test cricket and had a knack of playing some really long innings. His career aggregate of 11,953 runs, including 34 centuries, at an average of 52.89 is enough proof of his greatness.
The team that Lara loved playing against the most was England. He got both his world record scores versus England. Overall, he scored 2,983 runs against the Three Lions at an awesome average of 62.15. Out of the 6 series that he played against them, he got at least one century in 4 of them. In fact, in one of the series played in England in 1995, he scored 3 hundreds which included 2 scores of 150+.
Below are the highlighst of his world record 400* against England:
Lara did not enjoy playing against India too much, however. He scored a relatively meagre 1002 runs versus India at an average of 34.55. Both his hundreds against India came at home.
Though he was known to play long innings, the former West Indies captain failed to register a single unbeaten innings against India, and his top score of 120 against them is pretty low as compared to his highest scores against other teams.
Thus, to conclude, in Lara’s case:
Favorite Opposition: England
Worst Opposition: India
#6 Rahul Dravid
He is a batsman with arguably the most compact defense in the history of the game. He was an indispensable part of India’s Fab 4. He played one solid innings after another and rescued the Indian team on a number of occasions by doing so. He finished his Test career with 13,288 runs at an average of 52.31, which included 36 centuries.
England was the team that Dravid really enjoyed playing against. He averaged 60.94 vs England, and scored 7 centuries vs them. His innings of 148 at Headingley laid the foundation for a solid score and allowed India to dominate the match from thereon. In the 2011 series which India lost 4-0,
The Wall stood tall like a colossus among the reins. He scored 461 runs at an average of 76.83, which included 3 hundreds, in conditions in which all other Indian batsmen failed miserably
One opponent against whom the former India captain was a little off colour was South Africa. Against the Proteas, his average was 33.84, and he scored only a couple of tons. In Tests played in South Africa, he scored only 624 runs at a paltry average of 29.71.
Even in Tests played in India, he managed just 628 runs at an average of 39.25 which surely is below par as compared to his performances against other teams.
Thus, to conclude, in Dravid’s case:
Favorite Opposition: England
Worst Opposition: South Africa
#7 Allan Border
One of the greatest captains in the history of the game, he was excellent with the bat as well. He held the record for most runs in Test cricket until it was surpassed by Brian Lara in 2005. He scored 11,174 runs in his career at an average of 50.56, including no less than 27 tons.
The Ashes was one series that really fired up AB. He scored 3548 runs versus arch rivals England at an average of 56.32, including 8 centuries. This innings of 200* at Leeds is just one of the many gems he played against England. He really loved playing in England where he scored 2082 runs at a staggering average of 65.06. In every series played in England, he had an average in excess of 50.
Captain Grumpy did not have a particulary good time against West Indies. He scored 2052 runs against the Calypso Kings at an average of 39.46. Especially in games played at home, he really found it difficult to get going against the West Indies, scoring 1256 runs at an average of 33.95.
Thus, to conclude, in Border’s case:
Favorite Opposition: England
Worst Opposition: West Indies
#8 Steve Waugh
He is another legendary captain who excelled with the bat. Known for playing some really gritty innings, he was one batsman who never went down without a fight. He aggregated 10927 runs at an average of 51.06 and notched up 32 hundreds in the process.
Just like his predecessor, Allan Border, Tugga loved upping his game against arch rivals England. He averaged 58.18 vs the English and amassed 3200 runs, which included 10 centuries.
And just like AB, Steve had a great time in Ashes series played in England. In every Ashes played in England, he managed to score a single century at the least. In England, he scored 1633 runs at an average of 74.22.
Below is one of the best innings that the Aussie great played in his career:
The Iceman did not have a particularly good time against Pakistan. He aggregated 934 runs versus Pakistan at an average of 34.59, which included 3 centuries. His performances at home versus Pakistan were particularly disappointing, scoring 302 runs at a dismal average of 25.16 which was particularly boosted by an unbeaten century he scored at The Gabba.
Thus, to conclude, in Waugh’s case:
Favorite Opposition: England
Worst Opposition:Pakistan
#9 Sunil Gavaskar
The original Little Master who went down in the history books as one of the greatest opening batsmen of all-time, Sunil Gavaskar scored 10122 runs at an average of 51.12 and held the record for most Test centuries before being ultimately bettered by none other than his disciple, Sachin Tendulkar.
Similar to how Tendulkar took a fancy for Australia, the best team of his generation, his idol Sunil Gavaskar had taken a fancy for then world beaters West Indies. His record against the West Indies reads 2749 runs at an average of 65.45, including a whopping 13 centuries.
His liking for the West Indies can be gauged from the fact that in his maiden test series, the former Indian captain scored 774 runs at an average of 154.80, which included 4 centuries, one of which was a double hundred.
Below is one of the most blazing knocks that he played against the West Indies at Delhi:
One opponent that got the better of Sunny, however, was England. Though he scored well in excess of 2000 runs versus the English, he had a fairly strugglesome time against them. In England, he scored 1152 runs at an average of 41.14 whereas in India, he, surprisingly, just scored 1331 runs at an average of 35.97.
Thus, to conclude, in Gavaskar’s case:
Favorite Opposition: West Indies
Worst Opposition: England
#10 Sir Vivian Richards
The impact that this man had on the game can be gauged from the fact that the record he set for the fastest Test century got equalled after 28 long years. Mind you, it has only been equalled and not broken as yet! One of the most explosive batsmen to have ever played the game, Richards scored 8540 runs at an average of 50.24.
England was one team that Viv loved tearing to shreds. In fact, the fastest Test hundred mentioned above came against the English at Antigua. He scored close to 3000 runs against the Poms at an average of 62.37, including 8 hundreds and a top score of 291.
His fancy for the English bowling attack was such that in the very first Test series that he played against England, he scored 829 runs at an average of 118.43, which included 3 centuries, 2 of which were big double hundreds.
The team that the Master Blaster did not dominate as much as the other teams was Pakistan. In Tests played in West Indies, he scored 535 runs at an average of 41.15 and in games played in Pakistan, he scored 556 runs at an average of 42.76. He scored just a solitary hundred in both Pakistan and West Indies.
Thus, to conclude, in King Viv’s case:
Favorite Opposition: England
Worst Opposition: Pakistan
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