10 great bowlers and their most feared batsmen

In quite the same way that every batsman has at least one bowler who makes life difficult for him throughout his career, bowlers too have have their own share of nightmares against some batsmen. This is true for almost every bowler who has ever played the game of cricket.Many of the bowling greats have been quite open when it comes answering questions about their most feared batsmen, and more often than not they name some legend of their era. Here are 10 iconic bowlers revealing their greatest opponents:

#10 Mitchell Johnson - AB de Villiers

The most fearsome fast bowler in recent memory, Mitchell Johnson, retired from the game at the end of 2015. During an interview after his retirement, Johnson named South Africa’s AB de Villiers as the toughest batsman he ever faced up to.

The great Australian bowler is of the opinion that De Villiers is among the most outstanding players of this generation; Johnson found it difficult and challenging to get him out.

Mitchell Johnson on AB de Villiers:

"AB de Villiers, he's one outstanding player of our generation. He was always so difficult to get out and a huge challenge.”

#9 Jason Gillespie - Brian Lara

One of Australia’s finest fast bowlers of the modern era, Jason Gillespie finds Brian Lara to be the best and most difficult batsman he has bowled to. This is because Lara, on his day, had the ability to dispatch even the best of deliveries to any part of the ground that he desired.

Against some of the other greats, Gillespie reckoned that he could bowl good deliveries and keep building the pressure on them. But with Lara, that was impossible for him to do.

Jason Gillespie on Brian Lara:

“The reason I put Lara ahead of many fantastic players of my era including Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, Kumar Sangakkara, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Michael Vaughan is simple. I always felt with Brian, I could run in and look to bowl my best ball but he could, if he was in the mood, hit that ball pretty much wherever he wanted.”

#8 Shoaib Akhtar - Rahul Dravid

The Pakistani tearaway Shoaib Akhtar had made a career out of giving batsmen the shivers with his battering pace. However, Akhtar has openly admitted that it was a nightmare for him to bowl to one of India’s best batsman, Rahul Dravid.

He felt that Dravid had always been able to intimidate him; whenever the Karnataka batsman was at the crease, Akhtar knew that it would be difficult to dislodge him and that Pakistan would have to field for a few more sessions. Pakistan’s fastest bowler reckoned that the class batsman had the ability to tire the opposition out, both mentally and physically.

Shoaib Akhtar on Rahul Dravid:

“The biggest nightmare I ever faced was Rahul Dravid. He used to bore me. He was the first batsman who could intimidate me, in terms of when he walked in. I knew I would have to field for at least two sessions more.”

#7 Brett Lee - Sachin Tendulkar

Former Australian speedster Brett Lee has frequently said that Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara were his toughest opponents. However, he has also conceded that he rated the Indian maestro slightly higher than the prolific West Indian as he felt he was more difficult to bowl to.

Despite having a lot of success against Tendulkar, Lee feels that the master batsman pushed the bowlers to put in that extra bit of effort to get him out. He also feels that he was quite lucky to have dismissed the Indian batsman a number of times in his career.

Brett Lee on Sachin Tendulkar:

"I have been fortunate to get him out more than anyone else but have also been at the receiving end in many of his hundreds. No offense to Lara but with Sachin one has to find a way of getting a little bit better and bowl a little bit faster. You needed a little bit extra to get him out."

#6 Waqar Younis - Brian Lara

The master of reverse-swing bowling and one of Pakistan’s most famous cricketers, Waqar Younis, made a career out of terrorising batsmen. But when asked about the batsman who he found hardest to face up to, Younis was quick to rate Brian Lara above some of the other great batsmen he also considered as great opponents.

The reason is quite simple, according to Waqar - Lara is one batsman who scored plenty of runs against him in his career, probably more than anyone else.

Waqar Younis on Brian Lara:

“I cannot really pinpoint one batsman, but probably Lara stood out above the rest because he has scored a lot more against me than anyone else.”

#5 Curtly Ambrose - Sachin Tendulkar

The last of the great fast bowlers produced by the West Indies, Curtly Ambrose, has often acknowledged the fact that he finds Sachin Tendulkar to be one of the greatest batsman of all time. Ambrose feels that it was always a big challenge to bowl against a great player like Sachin, and he loved getting involved in a contest with the Indian legend.

Apart from his greatness as a batsman, the legendary West Indian pacer also has a lot of admiration for Tendulkar’s humility. He feels the Little Master has done a lot of hard work to reach where he has.

Curtly Ambrose on Sachin Tendulkar:

“It was always a big challenge. I relished the challenge of bowling to a great player. If you got him out cheaply, you’d have done a wonderful job and if he scored a hundred, you could say he played extremely well.

"He was one of the toughest batsmen I bowled to. I have got a lot of respect for him and everything he achieved, he worked very hard for. He achieved so much, yet he is so humble and that to me, is a great quality.”

#4 Courtney Walsh - Javed Miandad

Courtney Walsh is without doubt one of the best fast bowlers to have ever played the game. Great as he may have been though, there was one batsman in particular who gave him a lot of trouble in his career - Pakistan’s Javed Miandad. This is a confession Walsh that made during an interview after his retirement.

When questioned about the reason for this, the lanky West Indian paceman was quick to point out the fact that Miandad never stayed still at the crease. He also spoke about how the dangerous Pakistani could play shots one would not even imagine while facing a fast bowler.

Courtney Walsh on Javed Miandad:

“It was always difficult bowling to him. He never stood still, he could play any shot in the book, he would walk down the wicket to you. Totally unpredictable, and world class with it.”

#3 Muttiah Muralitharan - Brian Lara

The most successful bowler in world cricket, 800-man Muttiah Muralitharan, has always hailed Brian Lara as the toughest batsman he has ever bowled to. Even though the Sri Lankan offie regards Indian master Sachin Tendulkar very highly too, he always maintains that Lara played him better.

According to Muralitharan, the incredible West Indian batsman picked his deliveries very well and had great hand-eye coordination. Apart from that, he felt that Lara was such a good batsman that he found it extremely easy to adjust to even the very good deliveries.

Muttiah Muralitharan on Brian Lara:

"I think, of all the batsmen in the world, he plays my bowling better than anyone else, including Sachin Tendulkar. His eyesight and hand co-ordination is very good and he's able to adjust very quickly to very good deliveries."

#2 Shane Warne - Sachin Tendulkar & Brian Lara

The two batsmen that most Australian bowlers had a tough time against are undoubtedly Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara. And Shane Warne is among one of the first ones who will admit to this fact. In their prime, the two master batsmen had a number of confrontations against the legendary spinner and ended up having the upper hand most of the time.

Warne has said a number of times that he found Lara and Tendulkar to be his toughest opponents in international cricket. On many occasions, he has revealed stories about how both these batsmen dominated his bowling in his playing days and left him clueless at times.

Shane Warne on Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara:

"Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the two best batsmen of my era. I think those two guys have been the toughest at international level.”

#1 Glenn McGrath - Sachin Tendulkar & Brian Lara

It is hardly surprising that legendary Australian bowler Glenn McGrath rates Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara as the toughest batsmen he has bowled to. This is something about which McGrath has spoken many times during various interviews and media events.

The Aussie great had some fantastic duels against both Lara and Tendulkar and often managed to get them out too. But he also acknowledges the fact that the two of them scored a lot against him and his fellow Australian teammates.

McGrath felt that even though he did find them the toughest to bowl to, he also enjoyed bowling to Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara the most.

Glenn McGrath on Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar:-

"Any batsman on his day is difficult to bowl to. But I will choose Sachin and Brian as the two best batsmen I have bowled to. I have had some success against Brian, but on other occasions he's got lot of runs against us. Sachin too."