5 left-handed batsmen who loved batting against India

Sanath Jayasuriya scored his Test highest-score against IndiaThere is something about the Indian bowling attack that makes left-handed batsmen take a liking towards them. This is a thing which has been proven time and again as some southpaw or the other has managed to give the bowlers a really tough time.Over the years, there have been a few great left-handers who have excelled against Team India in Tests as well as ODIs. Some of them have even gone on to make careers out of scoring runs consistently against their favourite opponents.Here are 5 of the best left-handers who simply loved to hit the Indian bowlers all around the park:

#5 Matthew Hayden (Australia)

Matthew Hayden stamped his authority all over Indian bowlers every time he played them

India was where Matthew Hayden embarked on the journey to resurrect his Australian career, something he was highly successful in doing as he became a batting legend for his country.

So it is pretty obvious that he had a great time batting when Team India was on the opposite side. Although his first series against India turned out to be an epic disaster for Australia, his prolific batting was the biggest takeaways from the series for them.

In 18 Tests that he played against India, he averaged 59 and scored 1,888 runs which included 6 centuries with 203 being his highest score. The muscular Aussie was equally good in ODIs too as he averaged 53.70 in 28 India-Australia encounters with 3 scenturies.

The great thing about Hayden was that he was completely at ease against the strongest side of India’s bowling attack, the spinners.

#4 Saeed Anwar (Pakistan)

Saeed Anwar showed great form whenever he played against India

One of the most prolific Pakistani batsmen of all time, Saeed Anwar, enjoyed a great track record against arch-rivals India. Although there were many other teammates of Anwar who also did well, the southpaw seemed to have a special connect with the Indian bowlers.

Every time he walked into bat, the Pakistani fans felt reassured that everything was under their control. Since India and Pakistan did not see too much of each other in the longest format of the game, most of his great knocks against India came in the 50-over format; however, he did get his best Test score of 188 not out in one of the 3 Tests he played against India.

In the ODI format, he loved to dominate the Indian bowlers and his statistics are great evidence of this fact. In 50 Indo-Pak encounters, the great Pakistani scored 2,002 runs at an impressive average of 43.52 and a high score of 194, which also happens to be his career best.

He always had a tendency of bringing out his best against India and was a major reason behind Pakistan doing well in matches played between the neighbouring countries.

#3 Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)

Sanath Jayasuriya tormented Indian bowlers for years

The Matara Mauler, Sanath Jayasuriya, is known to be one of the most destructive batsmen to have ever set foot on a cricket pitch. And there is hardly anyone who is unknown to the fact that India was the team that he loved to destroy most.

For Indian cricket fans from the late 1990s, Jayasuriya was the reason behind many a sleepless nights. Such was his terror that the Indian bowlers were at times guilty of surrendering without a fight.

Let alone his impact, stats-wise too Sanath Jayasuriya had an incredible record against Team India in both Tests and ODIs. He scored 938 runs in just 10 Tests at an outstanding average of 67 which surpassed his career average of 40.07 by a huge margin.

His only triple century and the highest score of 340 also came against the Indian attack. But it was in ODIs that he played some of his best cricket against his favorite neighbours as he scored 2,899 runs at 36.23 with as many as 7 centuries.

There are too many occasions on which he mauled the Indian bowlers and pounded them into submission throughout his illustrious career.

#2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)

Shivnarine Chanderpaul was one of the most prolific batsmen ever against India

The legendary West Indian batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul is one of the many players of Indian origin to have represented the island nation. And going by what his record suggests, he had a strange liking for bowlers from his ancestral home.

Throughout the 1990s and a large part of the early 2000s, the ace batsman went on to score gallons of runs against Team India and was one of their primary tormentors in Test cricket.

In 25 Tests, he scored 2,171 runs at an incredible average of 63.85 with as many as 7 tons against India. His queer batting stance and technique proved to be very effective even while tackling the best of Indian bowlers like Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath.

Chanderpaul had a more than decent run against his favorite opponents in the 50-over game too with 1,319 runs at a very acceptable average of 35.64. Even a Brian Lara could never do what Shivnarine Chanderpaul managed to accomplish against India.

#1 Andy Flower (Zimbabwe)

Andy Flower dominated India whenever he batted against them

Zimbabwe’s most successful batsman of all time, Andy Flower, almost made a career out of accumulating runs against India. Flower’s dominance over the Indians is clearly visible in his incredible stats against the team, particularly in Test matches.

In just 9 Tests, the Zimbabwean star has scored 1,138 runs at a staggering average of 94.83 with 3 centuries and a highest score of 232 not out, which also happens to be his highest Test score.

In the 50-over format too, his record was very good against Team India as he got 1,298 runs in 36 ODIs against them including a century and 11 fifties. His highest ODI score of 145 has also come against the same opposition and his average against them is 40.56 which is above his career average of 35 plus.

All these facts and figures are the greatest indicator of the fact that Flower simply enjoyed batting whenever he played the Indian bowling attack.