T20 cricket has replaced the old model of cricket where batsmen used to take their time and once set, they used to go for the kill. With the advent of the shortest version of cricket, patience has taken a backseat. No matter whatsoever format we are talking about, it is all about walking in these days with the bat, duck, or defend a few balls and start slogging.
With all said and done, there are always a few cricketers who have defied the norms of their era and donned on the true vestment of the sport to come out in the most flamboyant colors to rise above the others. Similarly, like cricket in the past was all about walking in, getting set to the situation environing you, and then pull the trigger, there were a few exceptional cricketers who were always in the mood to hammer the bowlers.
We will look at five such cricketers who would have made amazing t-20 batsman, given their previous history of ruthless and mindless slogging.
Ricardo Powell (West Indies)
I still remember watching this man coming out at number 5 or 6 for West Indies against India and taking away matches as if it was nothing but a cakewalk. Powell was one of the most destructive batsmen of the West Indian line up as his job was not to build on runs but to act as a catalyst in the Caribbean batting ranks.
Mainly coming out after Sarwan or Chanderpaul, his calculation was simple. Hurling his bat at everything that came his way was his style of unleashing himself upon the bowlers. As the shortest version of the game at the moment deserves the batsman to keep his head clear and take a dig at even the best of the deliveries from the bowlers, Powell was made for doing that.
Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan)
One of the most dynamic all-rounders in international cricket, Razzaq, for a brief period was even called ‘Boom Boom, Razzaq”, a name inspired by Shahid Afridi. He was a relentless hitter of the ball and his penchant for those massive sixes, set him apart from the ordinary cricketers.
Lethal with his medium pace as well, he could chip in with a full quota of 10 overs that made him an absolute eye-candy in the context of today’s cricketing standards, especially T-20 cricket.
Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
The former Sri Lankan captain played a bit of T20 cricket at the end of his career but had he played the shortest form of cricket in his younger days, he could have been a big hit in T20I cricket and domestic T20 leagues across the world. Jayasuriya was a clean hitter of the ball and used to attack the opposition bowlers right from the go.
Sir Vivian Richards (West Indies)
Now take a stroll down the memory lane, this towering West Indian batsman was a living nightmare for the bowlers, as he never wanted to hold back. May it be Test cricket or One Dayers, he was going after the bowlers always.
A man who commanded 8540 Test runs and 6721 ODI runs, was a million notches higher than his colleagues at that point in time. Also, he was quite a style icon of his time that came with a bout of fearlessness.
Lance Klusener (South Africa)
One of the biggest hitters of the Rainbow Nation, who saw his country’s World Cup dream going down in flames in front of his own eyes, Klusener was way ahead of his time, an absolute visionary.
He was not someone to come out and defend, on the contrary, he was a killer. A merciless killer with his bat that saw him taking the best of bowlers out of the park. To make it clear how great he was, he suffers from an acute form of diabetes which compels him to take insulin four times a day. Yet, those bowlers out there were petrified of this South African southpaw.
