Top 5 left-handed opening Test batsmen of all time

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The left-handers make up roughly 12 percent of the world's population. Scientists believe that left-handers use the right side of their brain the most and that makes them better at three-dimensional perception, multitasking, and thinking.

These skills can come in quite handy if you are an opening batsman and your day job is all about negotiating with a barrage of fast-paced deliveries coming your way.

Moreover, bowlers are not as comfortable, nor as proficient bowling to left-handed batsmen. So it would not be erroneous to say that life in cricket is better if you are a left-handed batsman.

The lefties are surely overrepresented in cricket and it is believed that the outnumbered batsmen do have an edge over the right-handers. Now, let's have a look at five such southpaws who carved out a niche for themselves as opening batsmen.


Gautam Gambhir

A lesser-acknowledged hero of Indian cricket - Gautam Gambhir is one of the most talented left-handed openers the country has unearthed.

Gambhir, who earned 58 Test caps, scored eight centuries in space of 10 five-day contests between 2008 and 2010.

The out of favour batsman, who scored over 4000 Test runs, produced the grittiest ton of his career as Team India opening batsman in March 2009.

The aggressive opener shifted gears and displayed his nerves of steel as he batted for 643 minutes to score 137 off 436 balls against New Zealand in Napier.

Gambhir, who averages 41.95 in Tests, owing to his innings building technique played out a marathon innings and saved the match for India.

Saeed Anwar

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Pakistan has produced numerous classy opening batsmen but there was no one quite like the left-handed Test master Saeed Anwar.

Although Anwar was a more sought after name in the limited overs cricket, his contribution to Pakistan's Test cricket was still very significant.

Anwar, with a batting average of 45.5, was amongst the highest new ball impact batsmen in cricket history.

In a 1999 Test against India in Kolkata, Anwar showed the world what a class act he was.

After being dismissed on zero in the first innings, Anwar remained unbeaten on 188 and led Pakistan to a 46-run victory against the arch-rivals. His second innings’ score was more than the combined score (185) of his team in the first outing at Eden Gardens.

In 2001, the death of his daughter led to Anwar's premature retirement and brought an unfortunate end to the world-beater's career.

Alastair Cook

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Sachin Tendulkar played a record 200 Test matches and amassed over 15,000 runs in five-day cricket. It was believed that it would be impossible for a batsman to surpass Tendulkar's Test records, but Alastair Cook seems to be a serious threat.

In 148 Test matches, the left-handed opening batsman has accumulated 11638 runs at an average of 46.00. The 32-year-old is the all-time leading run-scorer for England in Tests and has the most centuries (31) to his name.

Cook passed the test of endurance as he scored 243 in the 2017 Day-Night Test (the first Pink Ball Test hosted by England) against the West Indies at Edgbaston.

Owing to his fourth double century in Tests, Cook, with the sixth most number of double centuries in Tests as an opener, joined the elite list led by Virender Sehwag and Marvan Atapattu with six each.

Graeme Smith

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South Africa's best-ever Test captain, Graeme Smith was a strength of character and grit in times of adversity. Such was an impact of his match-defining innings that, none of his 27 Test hundreds resulted in a loss for his side.

The left-hander, with an average of 48.25 in 117 Tests, was a big run-getter and an opener from day one.

The man who scored 9,235 runs, was a master of second innings chases. Nobody in Test cricket's history scored more than his 1,141 runs in the fourth innings wins.

Smith finished his career 12th on the all-time list of run-scorers in the longest format of the game and with five two hundred-plus scores as an opener, he has the second most double tons in Test cricket history.

Matthew Hayden

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When cricket's most-prolific left-handed Test opening batsman of all time called it a day in 2009, he left behind more than just records. Hayden played 103 Tests between 1994 and 2009, scoring 8,625 runs at a mind-boggling average of 50.73.

In 2003, the Australian was ranked as the number one batsmen in both formats of the game and was also named the Wisden Cricketer of the Year.

In October 2003, Hayden scored 380 in a single Test innings against Zimbabwe in Perth to break a 9-year-old record 0f 375 runs held by Brian Lara. However, Lara reclaimed his record by scoring 400* against England in April 2004.

Hayden scored 30 Test centuries with four in consecutive Tests and scored 1,000 or more Test runs for six consecutive years from 2001 to 2006.

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Edited by Sankalp Srivastava