Sir Viv Richards was considered a batting pioneer. In the era of uncovered wickets, Richards was unafraid to take down the bowling. The likes of Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar maximised the field restrictions. Virender Sehwag took over and scored at 6 per over in Tests. But it was at the turn of the decade in 2010 when batting reached the next level.
Evolution of 360-degree batting:
The likes of Kevin Pietersen, Brendon McCullum, and AB de Villiers accessed all parts of the ground. It was ABD in particular who made 360-degree batting a common cricketing term. The mantle has well and truly passed as has been evident in the recent few years.
We look at the best 360-degree batsmen in the game currently:
#4 Glenn Maxwell
There is little doubt that Glenn Maxwell is one cricketing maverick. He is a gun fielder, an effective part-time spinner but above all a game-changer with the bat. Maxwell is one of those breeds of players who play the ball and not the condition or the situation.
It is for this very reason that watching him can bring both joy and exasperation. Maxwell’s go-to shots are the reverse sweeps and switch-hits. He doesn’t necessarily play them against just the spinners.
#3 Rishabh Pant
He is a freak of nature. Rishabh Pant was one to watch out for right since his U-19 days. He has achieved the best of his potential in surprisingly the toughest format of the game – Test cricket. Pant has won India games singlehandedly on the back of his batting brilliance.
His ability to hit pacers and spinners alike with the most unorthodox of shots makes him a difficult prospect to bowl at. Pant’s unique ability is to hit the ball over long on and long off while falling on the floor. It is difficult to comprehend such is his batting style.
#2 Jos Buttler
It is only recently that a batsman apart from Jos Buttler has been talked about in the same league as ABD. Buttler right since the beginning was known to be an outlier in the right England setup.
Jos Buttler showed the English side that boundaries matter only in the minds. He took to playing laps, and sweeps of bowlers even in the power plays. There is little doubt that Buttler is England’s greatest white ball player of all time.
#1 Suryakumar Yadav
He was India’s biggest shining light in an otherwise dull T20 World Cup campaign in 2022. Suryakumar Yadav appears to be batting on a different surface altogether. He has scored runs at Melbourne, Oval, Colombo, Ahmedabad, Perth, Sydney, and Mount Maunganui. SKY as he is popularly called hardly appears to be hitting the ball hard. He walks in, scores all around the ground, chew his gum and walks off to ovations.
SKY has made batting look really easy while his strokes appear anything else apart from crazy. His ramp shots off short balls, his sweep shots off Yorkers, his inside-out shots of good lengths balls, there is an entire playlist to his 360-degree batting. He is miles ahead when it comes to being the best 360-degree batter currently in world cricket.
