Watching players like Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Steven Smith bat evokes a sense of happiness amongst the cricket aficionados that can never be replaced with some other feeling.
The middling of the ball with their bat, the ecstatic drives, the scintillating hooks and pulls, the dominance and the eye for an eye attitude make a few batters extraordinary, to say the least.
This story will bring to you the five most technically correct batsmen of the current era who has made people fall in love with the game for its classic stature in an era of transitory excitement and pleasure.
Just to give you a heads-up, this will be an opinion-based piece and will not be driven by hardcore facts. Hence, your opinion will be extremely welcome.
#1 Virat Kohli
Despite struggling in recent times, Kohli is arguably the best batsman in Indian cricket at the moment and is the perfect successor to break the records of the Little Master. Known for his classic drives and vintage flick of his turnstile wrists, Virat is the current Indian skipper and is also an unstoppable run-machine.
Though he is more destructive in the shorter format of the game, his exploits in red-ball cricket are equally brilliant. He has managed to rack up 7547 runs at an astonishing average of 51.69. However, it isn’t the numbers that define Kohli. It is his extraordinary ability to carve those beautiful strokes under pressure and convert the starts to big knocks which have helped him to claim 70 international centuries already.
#2 Steven Smith
The man who made his debut on the Australian side as a potential successor of Shane Warne shortly had to choose batting as his ultimate forte. This transition didn’t really come easy but when it did come, it came for all the good reasons.
In the first Test of the remarkable Ashes where Smith and Warner came back after the Sandpaper gate incident, despite Australia coming a cropper early with the bat, it was Steven Smith who started to bat and the English bowlers had no clue how to get him dismissed. This went to such an extent that even the tubes of England started publicly asking the question, “Do you know how to dismiss Steven Smith?” The man who always loves to bat, Smith has garnered 7540 runs from 77 Test matches at an excellent average of 61 plus. From 128 ODI’s, he has piled 4378 runs at a decent average of 43.34.
#3 Kane Williamson
This man was probably forged by God without the trait of anger. His fans have never seen him to be angry and his ever-smiling visage is what defines the New Zealand captain alongside his charismatic figures with the bat.
Known to perform sublimely under duress, Kane is known for his exquisite strokeplay and clinical precision. If we actually pick up long innings played by Kane to dissect, there will be very few errors that the Kiwi vanguard is known to make. He doesn’t rush to garner runs and is always in a reposed state of mind. His nerves of steel and his sublime captaincy underline the man’s charisma in modern-day cricket.
#4 Joe Root
Joe Root is like fine wine as he gets better with every passing day. He is so technically solid that it becomes an extreme challenge for the bowlers to find a chink in his armour. He is also an aggressive batsman and likes to take the fight to the bowlers instead of waiting and weathering the storm.
The English captain in the longest format of cricket has played 106 Test matches and has managed to rack up 8887 runs at an astonishing average of 49.09. He is equally impressive in the shorter version of the game as he has managed to star in 152 ODI’s, notching up 6109 runs at a brilliant average of 51.33.
#5 Babar Azam
Though this Pakistani batsman is fairly new to the sport going by the numbers of the aforementioned batters, Babar Azam is still one of the most technically perfect batters in international cricket. It is believed that further exposure will hone his skills to an even sharper extent.
The Pakistani batsman has managed to feature in 33 Test matches from which he has claimed 2169 runs at an average of 42 plus. His ODI figures are much better with figures of 3958 runs from 83 ODI matches at an astonishing average of 56.92. He is equally brilliant in the shortest format of the game that also comes with a lightning strike rate of 130.64.
