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Cricket’s tryst with athleticism happened quite late and when it couldn’t have been delayed any further. With the arrival of action replays, slow motion and an elevated spirit of competition, cricketers finally took to working religiously on their physical fitness and agility. While the game still affords a precious few that hobble around stadia in an ungainly fashion, it has managed to find, nourish and produce some with incredible athletic ability.
Here are 10 of the fastest in that list, in no particular order.
#10 David Warner
This man rides the thrills of the game coupled with his athletic brilliance. When not muscling the ball over the boundary, he passes time by haring across the pitch to complete near-impossible runs and by demonstrating an astonishing judgement in setting off for those.
On the field, it is a common sight to see him hound after a ball and dive head-first pulling it away from reaching the boundary, extremely successfully. He does it without any fuss and there’s arguably nobody that guards the vastness of an Australian cricket ground better than him.
#9 Virat Kohli
To do a Virat Kohli is to blow life into the most incredible of dreams. See him set off for a quick single or see him touch down and take off for a double, you cannot but wonder at the weightlessness he brings to running. As much as his million dollar shots and an even more valuable mind, his precise placement and unflinching stamina give him a pedestal to stand on.
Kohli adds to cricket’s glory by being a stupendous cricketer who is a supreme athlete. One cannot have enough of him and just as one sees him dart in the in-field, one would see him grin after he’s covered an enormous arc about the boundary and pulled off a priceless catch or a save.
#8 Ricky Ponting
Even if Ricky Ponting was half as good a batsman as he was, he would make it to most international teams in his era building on the weight of his achievements as a fielder. He flung himself around like he had no bones to worry about, he chased the ball viciously and always showed the audience that he could do more as a fielder.
Amongst the first to make a name as an extremely fast fielder, speed came to his rescue when he lost his touch with the bat. It elevated his game when he was already primed and set to score big. Ponting’s incredible fitness and agility ensured that he would finish with his game as one of the greatest to have ever played.
#7 Jonty Rhodes
The big daddy of modern day fielding, Jonty was just too fast to be a cricketer of his era. He was so fast that he pulled the entire cricketing world to start aspiring to be agile and swift. While most remember him for his inexplicable and acrobatic catches, he first made a mark on the world stage by running Inzamam out in the World Cup of 1992 (Inzi was a much faster version of himself then).
His speed (nothing short of a world class sprinter) and willingness to put his body to use saw the beginning of a cult. Watch a Jonty Rhodes innings and you will be surprised if there aren’t extremely fast runs and scrambles. It might not be an exaggeration to say that Rhodes was an athlete who chose to play cricket.
#6 Dwayne Bravo
Between the frenzied rituals of slower balls, crazy shots, the overt glitz and the dance, Dwayne Bravo does some unimaginable feats on the field of play. He scurries across the outfield, chasing the ball and flinging himself around without a care in the world.
No angle is too obtuse for a Dwayne Bravo humming his version of cricket, be it his shots or be it his fielding. Most batsmen know that there’s no chance of stealing an extra run when dear Dwayne is after the ball. Period.
#5 Mohammad Kaif
A diminutive presence that could easily miss the eye until one saw him in the field was Mohammed Kaif. He ushered the Indian team into an era of great athleticism. Physically frail as he was, his ability to sprint unrelentingly was shocking, as was his eye that never looked away from the ball.
If the ball beat him, it had to be an extremely good shot. If a fielder stopped him from sneaking in a run, he had to be a very good one. His contribution to India’s ODI cricket has been significant yet thoroughly undermined. In a country obsessed with batting and which takes to bowling as a hobby, Kaif holds the rare distinction of earning immense respect plainly through his athleticism on the field.
#4 AB de Villiers
Can Mr. Omnipotent not be able to do something? When he gave up wicket keeping, De Villiers showed how belligerent he could be while fielding too. He manufactured run outs from a raw material of impossibility, he plucked the ball suddenly, right as it was about to sail over the boundary, he dived like a swimmer would into a round of heats – all to show the world how incredible a sportsperson he is.
He remains one among the fastest to have ever played the game - be it his strike rate or his speed while chasing a cricket ball.
#3 Herschelle Gibbs
There are batsmen and there is Gibbs, there are fielders and there too, there is Gibbs. He was the flamboyance that bolstered the confidence of a resurgent Proteas setup. His batting had the callousness of a rock band, his fielding - the precision of a surgeon.
As Shaun Pollock galloped into his delivery stride, Gibbs would be seen prancing in, licking his fingers while his eyes remained set on the ball. He made backward point his backyard - his speed and accuracy meant that a lot of the short and wide garbage that bowlers dished out once in a while had the cover of Gibbs’ impregnable fielding and unassailable speed.
It’s too sad that he is remembered most for having dropped Steve Waugh in the famous semi-final of the 1999 World Cup.
#2 Andrew Symonds
Symonds was built like a truck, but sprinted like a Mustang when he needed to. There was a surge and an unbelievable amount of acceleration that he could impart to himself at the drop of a hat. His hard hitting strokes and competitive nature shall occupy most of the space in a tribute written to him, but Symonds wouldn’t be the cricketer he was if he wasn’t so fast on the field.
Immense running prowess, imperious dives, cannon-like throws and the belief that the ball beating him was unacceptable made him one of the swiftest men to ever walk onto a cricket field.
#1 MS Dhoni
Speed and Dhoni must be first cousins, to sum up their affinity towards each other. For a beefy man, Dhoni pummels the pitch to submission in his all-out hurtles as he converts singles to doubles and further on with unbelievable efficiency. Athletic ability is the bulwark of his game and what makes him special is his diligent fitness regimes to ensure he delays the effects of ageing.
In the era where a dive is a pardonable excess, Dhoni’s sure-footed methods behind the stumps and his alacrity in accepting opportunities to squeeze in the extra run have given India the insurance against some of their persistent shortcomings. …and Dhoni clatters away like a train in a great rush!
