5 left-handed batters who have proved to be Team India's nemesis over the years

New Zealand batter Tom Latham struck a superb hundred at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday, November 25 in the opening ODI of the three-match series against Team India. The left-hander registered his career-best ODI score of 145* in only 104 balls, smashing 19 fours and five sixes. Courtesy of Latham’s superb innings, the Kiwis chased down a target of 307 in 47.1 overs to take a significant 1-0 lead in the series.

While Latham has established himself as a trustworthy batter in New Zealand’s Test and ODI squads, the sight of Team India’s bowlers just seems to bring out the best in him when it comes to the 50-over format. The southpaw has played 18 ODIs against the Men in Blue, smashing 846 runs at an average of 65.07 with two hundreds. Overall, Latham has an average of 36.36 after 115 ODIs.

In his very first ODI against the Indians, he scored 79* in Dharamsala in October 2016. A year later, he notched up 103* off 102 balls at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Latham’s is not an isolated case. Quite a few left-handed batters have enjoyed exceptional success against Team India in at least one format of the game. Here’s a lowdown.

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#5 Salman Butt

Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt. Pic: Getty Images

Of all the talent that he possessed, former Pakistan opener Salman Butt had a mediocre international career, which came to an abrupt end following the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. Butt averaged 30.46 in 33 Tests and 36.82 in 78 ODIs. But when it came to playing one-dayers against Team India, he was a different beast.

The former cricketer played 21 ODIs against India and hammered 992 at an average of 52.21. Five of his eight tons in the format came against the Men in Blue. He scored 108* in his maiden ODI appearance against India at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in November 2004.

Butt's highest ODI score against India came in Mirpur in 2008 when he smashed 129 before retiring hurt. He also scored 129 in Kanpur a year earlier. In his last ODI appearance against Team India in Dambulla in 2010, he hit 74 off 85 deliveries.

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#4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Former West Indies opener Shivnarine Chanderpaul. Pic: Getty Images

West Indies legend Shivnarine Chanderpaul had a wonderful Test career during which he notched up 11,867 runs at an average of 51.37 with 30 hundreds. But his record against Team India in the longer format of the game was exceptional

Chanderpaul played 25 Tests against India, notching up 2171 runs at an excellent average of 63.85. Seven of his 30 Test tons came against Team India. He scored an unbeaten 137 in Bridgetown in 1997 and registered his Test score against India (140) in Georgetown in 2002, equaling the same score at Eden Gardens later in the year.

Chanderpaul proved to be a nuisance for India’s bowlers towards the end of his career as well, scoring 116* and 118 in Roseau and Delhi, respectively, in 2011. For sure, Team India’s bowlers would have heaved a sigh of relief once Chanderpaul stopped being part of West Indies’ Test batting line-up.

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#3 Saeed Anwar

Former Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar. Pic: Getty Images

Former Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar also enjoyed playing against India. While he averaged 39.21 from 247 ODIs, the same went up to 43.52 in 50 ODIs against the Men in Blue. He smashed 2002 runs against Team India’s bowlers, notching up four hundreds.

He hammered 194 in Chennai in 1997, which stood as the record for the highest individual ODI score for many years. He was well past his prime towards the end of his international career. Yet he managed to score a fluent hundred in his last one-day appearance against India - 101 at Centurion in the 2003 World Cup clash.

Anwar played only three Tests against Team India and impressed there as well. He scored 289 runs at an average of 57.80. His career-best Test score of 188* also came against India at Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 1999 during the Asian Test Championship.

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#2 Sir Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook loved batting against Team India. Pic: Getty Images

Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook was another left-hander whom Team India bowlers found extremely difficult to dislodge in Test matches. Cook had a stellar career in the longer format during which he amassed 12,472 runs in 161 matches at an average of 45.35 with 33 hundreds.

Cook’s Test record against Team India was even better. In 30 matches, he scored 2431 runs at an average of 47.66 with seven tons. His career-best Test score of 294 also came against India. The marathon effort in Birmingham in 2011 came off 545 balls and lasted 773 minutes.

The southpaw made his Test debut in India and took an instant liking to the team’s bowling, scoring 60 and 104*. Cook averaged 51.45 in India, where he notched up five of his seven tons against the Asian opponents. His last Test was also against Team India - at The Oval in 2018. He signed off with 71 and 147.

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#1 Sanath Jayasuriya

Former Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya. Pic: Getty Images

Former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya just loved batting against India. Team India fans were pretty much bored of the sight of the left-hander smashing bowlers from their country by the time Jayasuriya’s career came to an end

While Jayasuriya averaged 40.07 from 110 Tests, the same went up for 67 in 10 matches against India. He hammered 938 runs against the Indians, including his career-best of 340 in Colombo in 1997. He smashed 199 in the next Test of the same series at the same venue.

Jayasuriya also enjoyed batting against the Men in Blue in the ODIs. Seven of his 28 ODI tons came against India. He notched up 2899 runs in 89 matches at an average of 36.23. Jayasuriya’s career-best ODI score of 189 also came against his favorite opponent in the final of the Coca-Cola Champions Trophy in Sharjah in 2000.

Just as Sachin Tendulkar was Australian legend Shane Warne's nightmare, Jayasuriya’s presence seemed to have a similar impact on Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad - India’s pace-bowling duo from the 1990s.

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