Who U think to be the most explosive one day batsman ever

[quick4mindia]

Hi folks
As the title suggest we gonna have most explosive of the debates here in this thread. Not much to explain about the rules in this thread. Its free style. (i e you can take any line of thinking and start arguing)

Just for the starter the list goes like
Jayasuriya
Adam Gilchrist
Viv Richards
Michael Bevan
Abdul Razzak
SachinTendulkar
Sourav Ganguly
Flintoff
Kevin Pietersen
Chris Cairns
Lance Cairns
Chris Gayle
Brian Lara
Michael Hussy
Lance Klusner
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Yuvaraj Singh
Shahid Afridi
Saeed Anwar
Ejaj Ahmed
Andrew Symonds
Kapil Dev
Mark Gretbatch
Jaqes Kallis
Daryll Cullinan
...................
...................

 

[Jono]

Hmmm, at the start of the innings I reckon I'd go for Gilly or Jayasuriya. Whenever they're in the zone its more a case of waiting for them to gift their wicket away rather than getting them out.

At the death I'd go Klusener and evidently now Hussey.

Overall I'd give it to Viv though.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Can't really argue with that.

 

[silentstriker]

1) Viv
2) Tendulkar


3) Mortals


And please, get MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and about half that list off. Thats just embarrasing.

And Kallis....explosive? If you had to pick 100 words to describe the way Kallis bats, explosive would not be one of them.

 

[quick4mindia]

1) Viv
2) Tendulkar


3) Mortals


And please, get MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and about half that list off. Thats just embarrasing.

And Kallis....explosive? If you had to pick 100 words to describe the way Kallis bats, explosive would not be one of them.

Like i said its gonna be free for all. so i am hoping that some kind soul will emerge from somewhere to back kallis or even Mcgrath

 

[andyc]

Flintoff

Forget Andrew's first name?

 

[howardj]

Like i said its gonna be free for all. so i am hoping that some kind soul will emerge from somewhere to back kallis or even Mcgrath

I'll second Kallis! The way he explodes into those singles is just swell.

 

[quick4mindia]

Forget Andrew's first name?

Okay lets call him Freddie

 

[sideshowtim]

I'll second Kallis! The way he explodes into those singles is just swell.

Yeah that forward defensive of his is incredibly explosive. Kallis = zzzzzzzz

 

[benchmark00]

Bevo's not explosive either.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

For explosive, it has to be Afridi.

 

[Sanz]

I dont think I have seen anyone as explosive as Shahid Afridi. You can expect fireworks as long as he is on the crease.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Sanath can come close, but yeah, Afridi by a long way. No ground [or country] could hold him when he's hitting it right.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Depends on your definitions I guess.

For "explosive" I'd go for Afridi or Kluesener. Explosive for me is the ability to make a whole heap of runs in a really short time in the last few overs, or even early on and then get out. 40 off 20 is an explosive innings, but it's not game changing except in certain circumstances. Kluesener was probably the best at this.

A more effective term would be something like devastating, being a combination of being an unstoppable scorer and also having the ability to make big innings and really bat the opposition out of the game. The most devastating ODIs batsman would probably be Gilchrist, particularly when he's in decent form like in the last few months (in ODIs). As Jono said, it's just a matter of waiting until he stuffs up, because you're not going to bowl well enough to keep him quiet. When he's on his game, he's utterly unstoppable, and he manages to do it with enough regularity to make a decent number of centuries and be one of the best ODI openers of his time. Gilchrist isn't clear cut though, and Jayasuria, Viv, Hussey, Dhoni and Pietersen all deserve a mention as well.

In tests, Gilchrist is the most devastating of all time in my mind. Nobody else has ever combined such a scoring rate with a world class batting average, though Viv is a close second, and obviously the better batsman over all.

 

[cricket_fan23]

Afridi, by a distance.

No one else has such a tendancy to come in with the intentions to literally smash the first length ball for 6.

 

[Goughy]

Just to be controversial, how about Ali Brown.

He was before his time. If he had come after Afridi then the clown comments would not have appeared.

 

[marc71178]

I dont think I have seen anyone as explosive as Shahid Afridi. You can expect fireworks as long as he is on the crease.

Sometimes it's a Catherine wheel, sometimes it's a sparkler...

 

[Goughy]

Impossible to look passed Afridi.

Most 6's, 1st and 3rd fastest 100's and best strike rate @ 108.

He would not be my 1st choice if picking a team though, as I find him very 1 dimentional.

The others that deserve serious consideration IMO are listed below as they all made an impact on how ODIs are played.

Sanath Jayasuriya
Adam Gilchrist
Viv Richards
Lance Klusener
Andrew Symonds

Guys like Tendulkar are too complete a player to be defined in this category and someone like Bevan was an assassin rather than a bully.

 

[Jono]

Yeah I purposely ignored Sachin because whilst he would dominate attacks, he never looked explosive. It looked more like he was just outclassing them, even if he was hitting the bowlers around at 8-10 an over. One perfect example that comes to mind is the 98 he made against Pakistan in the WC 2003. He flew at a SR of around 110-125 or something, yet all of his shots were perfect cricket strokes. Beautiful drives and flicks. Of course that lofted cut for six off Akhtar may be an exception, but that was what started it all.

 

[TT Boy]

From who I have seen (in pomp) Lance Klusener.