5 stylish batsmen who were considered better than they actually were

#4 Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka)

The former Sri Lankan skipper’s fluid batting was a visual treat

For a man who scored 5 ducks in his first 6 Test innings, Sri Lanka’s former captain Marvan Atapattu did quite a decent job of resurrecting his career. But if you take into account the talent he displayed during his playing days and compare it with his career statistics, you will find a huge void that was left unfulfilled.

The Sri Lankan batsman is joint fifth on the list of most double hundreds in a Test career alongside greats like Javed Miandad, Virender Sehwag, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar. It is baffling that a man who rubs shoulders in cricket record books with such greats did not even average 40 in his career.

The answer lies in what happened in the many innings he played between those occasional doubles. Atapattu managed just 33 scores of above 50 including his double tons in the 156 innings he played throughout a 17-year long career. He has also registered 22 ducks in his Test career which is the most by a pure batsman.

Despite his natural batting flair and a knack of getting big scores, Marvan Atapattu can at best be termed as just a good batsman, not a great one.