It is considered to be a sign of supreme technique if a batsman is difficult to get out bowled. From among current batsmen, only five batsmen have a percentage of bowled dismissals in their careers less than 10%.
India’s Sanjay Manjrekar never reached the heights of glory that he seemed destined for in his early days, but it is generally agreed that he possessed one of the most technically correct approaches to batting. Manjrekar was dismissed bowled only 4 times out of 55 in his career, during which he got 2043 Test runs at an average of 37.
There is only one batsman in the history of Test cricket whose percentage of bowled dismissals is less than 5% – gutsy Australian batsman Graeme Wood, who fell bowled only 5 times out of the 106 times that he was out. Wood, who was his national team’s saviour in a period when lots of stars were defecting to the World Series, stood up to the fastest bowlers of his time without the use of a helmet, but made sure that he never offered a clean view of his stumps to the bowler.
Five batsmen from current times who rarely go out bowled:
# 1 – Virat Kohli (bowled 5 times, 7.25%)
Among the many theories which can be propped up to prove why Virat Kohli is the best batsman of the present generation, one is that he is impossibly difficult to get out bowled. Even in conditions where the rest of the Indian batsmen struggle in being aware of where their stumps are, Kohli’s straight bat coming down to meet the ball is as inevitable as the rising of the sun.
Kohli has batted in 73 innings till now, scoring 3194 runs at an average of 46.29, a figure which is on its way up, based on recent showings. He has been bowled only 5 times in this duration.
This figure is not very striking unless put in perspective – apart from Manjrekar and Tatenda Taibu, nobody with more than 1000 Test runs has been bowled less number of times. Joe Root, considered by some to be a better batsman than Kohli in the Test format, has been out bowled 15 times.
# 2 – Misbah-ul-Haq (bowled 7 times, 7.53%)
At the age of 42, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq is still flying high, still without doubt the safest batsmen in his side. It has become a common phenomenon in recent years when Pakistan bat that Misbah's front foot defence rules over one batting end while other batsmen follow each other to the pavilion on the other end with suicidal shots.
On way to scoring 4553 Test runs at an average of 49, Misbah has been out bowled only 7 times. Like the only other middle order batsman on this list, Misbah has also remained unbeaten at the end of innings many times - 17.
Misbah and Virat Kohli, the Test captains of Pakistan and India, on the proof of this list, are the best Test batsmen of present times, miles ahead of the rest.
# 3 – David Warner (bowled 8 times, 8.89%)
Ever since David Warner took over the vice-captaincy of the Australian team, he has reinvented himself – both with bat in hand and as a senior pro in the field. No more does he offer wild swings of the bat brought on by overconfidence. Before the Sri Lanka series, Warner had not been bowled in Tests since December 2014, being out bowled to Karn Sharma after a century.
Warner has been bowled 8 times in 94 innings, scoring 4506 runs at an average of 50.
Both Warner and Kohli’s knocks have been knocked over once already in the course of their current tours, while Misbah has been bowled twice in England.
# 4 – Murali Vijay (bowled 6 times, 9.38%)
One of the best players in the Test arena in recent years, Murali’s Vijay’s claim to being India’s best batsman after Kohli is backed up by the few number of times he has been out bowled.
He has batted 66 innings so far, scoring 2637 runs at an average of 41.2, mostly batting in difficult conditions with wickets falling all around him. His stumps have been kocked over 6 times.
# 5 – Angelo Mathews (bowled 8 times, 9.41%)
Angelo Mathews is the third Asian captain on this list, another technically correct batsman in the middle order who has the customary task of rescuing his side from holes they have dug themselves into. Like Misbah, Angelo Mathews is often unbeaten at the end of innings – tied with him at 17 not outs. Like the other names on this list, Angelo Mathews refuses to let ball past him if it is on line with stumps.
Mathews has 4140 runs from 102 innings at an average of 48.7, going out bowled only 8 times in this duration.
Like in all Test series in the last two years, Sri Lanka are currently looking towards their captain to raise some sort of a defence against an otherwise unstoppable Australian bowling attack.
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