The game of Cricket wouldn’t have been so appealing to the masses had it been bereft of the uncertainties it possesses. Who would have loved to see the game had it been so plain and simple?
The game of cricket has often presented its bouquet of surprises to the millions of fans over the world. Like, sometimes a batting genius had troubles facing a bowler who was definitely not known for his bowling exploits. It has been observed over the years, that a batting great had a tough time against a particular part-timer and he had often lost his wicket to him.
Is there any reason behind it? Well, we tried to find that out.
Here are the 5 modern day batting greats who had a tough time against some of the unlikely bowlers.
5. Kevin Pietersen – Yuvraj Singh
Well, everyone knows a thing or two about Pietersen’s utter dislike for the left-arm spin and how it often troubled him during his illustrious international career.
The man with over 8181 runs in Tests, 4440 runs in ODIs had a career in which he tormented most of the bowlers with his usual flair but hit a roadblock when he met the ‘pie-chucker’ Yuvraj Singh. Well, Pietersen himself labelled Yuvraj a "pie-chucker" and also suggested that he was a purveyor of "left-arm filth".
Yuvraj got the better of KP 4 times in ODIs (highest by any bowler in ODIs) and once in Tests.
4. Inzamam-ul-Haq – Sachin Tendulkar
The Pakistan batting legend was a nightmare for most of the lethal bowlers around the world himself due to his immense abilities with the willow. Exquisite strokes, coming down the track to smash the spinners, shots off the backfoot- the big man possessed it all.
However, if one goes deep into his records, he can find that Inzy was prone to give his wicket to non-regular bowlers quite often. Especially in ODIs, Inzamam got out to Sachin 7 times and Astle 6 times.
Sachin, who used to roll his arms over, often left Inzamam dumbfounded with his clever variations.
3. Jacques Kallis – Chris Gayle
The prolific South-African all-rounder, who had an illustrious career across all the formats, somehow didn’t like the innocuous off-spin bowling of Chris Gayle, who got the better of Kallis 4 times in ODIs.
Gayle, more of a part-time bowler, also bowled Kallis once in an ODI. Kallis also had a bit of tough time against another West Indies part-time bowler Carl Hooper who got him out thrice in ODIs.
In Tests as well, Hooper outdid him 3 times. Surely, Kallis had a thing or two against the West Indies part-time offies.
2. Allan Border – Carl Hooper
One of the all-time Australian batting greats, Border was the first man to cross 11000 runs in Tests and was known to put a heavy price tag on his wicket.
However, Border got out quite often to bowlers who didn’t quite have the reputation as a bowler and they were actually known for their batting exploits.
The West Indies gentle off-break bowler Carl Hooper got the better of Border 10 times(7 times in ODIs and 3 times in Tests) and another name which might just surprise you, is the great Viv Richards, who got Border out 5 times in ODIs and once in Tests.
1. Sachin Tendulkar – Hansie Cronje
The man in his 24-year-long international cricket faced many great bowlers like Glenn Mcgrath, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and the list goes on and on. However, when he was asked to pick the bowler who tested him the most during his career, Tendulkar surprisingly named Hansie Cronje.
Tendulkar in an interview told the Guardian, “Honestly. I got out to Hansie more than anyone. When we played South Africa he always got me out more than Allan Donald or Shaun Pollock. It wasn't that I couldn't pick him - it's just that the ball seemed to go straight to a fielder.”
The former South African skipper got Tendulkar out 5 times in Tests and thrice in ODIs. Cronje, primarily a middle-order batsman, was efficient with his medium pace, fetching 43 wickets in 68 Tests and 114 ODI wickets in 188 matches.
Tendulkar also recalled an incident, "I was going great guns in Durban one year and played some big shots against Donald and Pollock. Hansie came on and I flicked his first ball straight to leg-slip. I never knew what to do with him.”
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download Cric Rocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more!
