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25 most destructive batters of all time

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Harsh Thakor

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This is my list of the 25 most destructive batsmen of all time in order of merit.I have scaled in accordance with batting position and opposition.as well as strike rate of era.Not considered pure class or statistics but only ability to consistently massacre or intimidate opposition.




Viv Richards
Virendra Sehwag
Adam Gilchrist
A B Devilliers
Shahid Afridi
David Warner
Brian Lara
Sanath Jayasuriya
Barry Richards/Don Bradman
Gilbert Jessop
Chris Gayle
Rohit Sharma
Everton Weekes/Walter Hammond
Gordon Greenidge
Virat Kohli
Gary Sobers
Graeme Pollock
Kevin Pieterson
Ian Botham
Kapil Dev
Sachin Tendulkar
Rohan Kanhai
Ricky Ponting





Viv on top as nobody exuded the authority of an emperor like none reducing the great st bowlers to sheer submission..Sehwag gave a new dimension to batting inventing strokes of his very own.Gilchrist could put a stadium on fire from the word go.David Warner's attacking demeanor almost re-wrote the cricketing books with regard to strike rate.Brian Lara looked more like a magician than anyone who could be more mercurial for a sustained duration than any batsmen.Jayasuriya defined a new era by pioneering attacking aggression from the very first delivery itself.Afridi could create an impact of a blitzkreig more than anyone in his day.Devilliers displayed the imagination of a circus acrobat with creativity in regions of the sublime.Rohit is the master blaster of the modern era.Barry and Bradman looked more like a cricketing machines than anyone .Virat Kohli did not hit the ball so hard but still had a phenomenal strike rate of over 93 in ODI's.Botham and Greenidge were amongst the hardest hitters of a cricket ball ever .Promoted Gordon as he was an opening batsmen just like Chris Gayle.Kapil Dev also took power to its highest pitch but batted lower down the order.No batsmen displayed as much clinical destruction as Bradman or Barry Richards who resembled a galleon in full sail.Sobers and Pollock took domination to heights rarely traversed .Kanhai and Tendulkar resembled Bradman more than anyone .On his day Kevin Piterson resembled Viv Richards a lot who treated the bowling with unmatched contempt.David Warner's attacking demeanor almost re-wrote the cricketing books with regard to strike rate.

I have scaled batsmen like Viv,Lara,Greenidge,Weekes,Sobers etc in accordance to era and thus morally not completely gone by mere statistics,No batsmen equalled Viv's intimidation, surpasssed Greenidge's power or maybe even Jessop or posessed more genius than Lara.No batsmen displayed as much clinical destruction as Bradman or Barry Richards who resembled a galleon in full sail.I ma convinced the like of Viv,Lara,Barry and Greenidge could have overshadwed the likesof players like Virat,Rohit or maybe even Gayle in terms of strike rate had the played today.

Unlike Gilchrist. Devilliers was not so destructive in test cricket with a strike rate of around 54copared to that of 101 in ODI's.For sheer stats the likes of Afridi,Sehwag,Gilchrist and Warner wee incredible in tests and ODI's.Tendulkat low inspite of incredible talent because he restrained his game half-way through his career.I respected Lara's strike rate of above 60 in test matches.Botahm nad Kapil were complex to rank but I took into account their complete supremacy at their best.
 
Virat Kohli is not more destructive than Tendulkar even in a destructive batting era.

If Shahid Afridi is in this list then might as well bombard it with Maxwell Russel, Pollard, Pandya, Miller too.

Would make more sense to make up a list of proper batsmen.
 
Gordon Greenidge has a strike rate of 65 in ODIs but he finds a place in your list and higher than Tendulkar and Ponting.
 
Ab Fan said:
Gordon Greenidge has a strike rate of 65 in ODIs but he finds a place in your list and higher than Tendulkar and Ponting.
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Remember his ear.He held the record for most sixse in all the county competitions and scored the fastest hundred in one day tournaments.Hit the ball harder than even Viv.For his era a very fast scorer in tests.What do you feel about the rankings?Complex but to me Viv still supreme with Viru and Gilly and Lara right up there.
 
freelance_cricketer said:
Virat Kohli is not more destructive than Tendulkar even in a destructive batting era.

If Shahid Afridi is in this list then might as well bombard it with Maxwell Russel, Pollard, Pandya, Miller too.

Would make more sense to make up a list of proper batsmen.
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Touch and go.You have a point but they also could make tall scores and impact.True they were not all great batsmen.
 
Afridi and Sharma :yk

In all seriousness tho, no mystery why the great Aussies of 00s were so dominant. They had such an enviable batting.
 
Harsh Thakor said:
Remember his ear.He held the record for most sixse in all the county competitions and scored the fastest hundred in one day tournaments.Hit the ball harder than even Viv.For his era a very fast scorer in tests.What do you feel about the rankings?Complex but to me Viv still supreme with Viru and Gilly and Lara right up there.
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sorry not ear but era
 
[MENTION=141114]Hasan123[/MENTION] please come here
 
Last edited:
Like the list [MENTION=132062]Harsh Thakor[/MENTION]. One change I would make would be to place Ponting over Sachin, he is one of the most aggresive number 3's
 
Why are Imran Nazir and Marcus Trescothick not on the list ?
 
Too much Indian bias, Virat Kohli you got to be kidding me; he's not a batsman I would fear if I was coming to have a bowl especially in a high pressure game, the guy would crumble like a chicken which is about to get stunned
 
shaz619 said:
Too much Indian bias, Virat Kohli you got to be kidding me; he's not a batsman I would fear if I was coming to have a bowl especially in a high pressure game, the guy would crumble like a chicken which is about to get stunned
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Kohli has strike rate of above 93 in ODI cricket and around 58 in tests.Is that not remarkable?
 
Do come here [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] [MENTION=79064]MMHS[/MENTION] [MENTION=7774]Robert[/MENTION] [MENTION=133315]Hitman[/MENTION]
 
Harsh Thakor said:
Kohli has strike rate of above 93 in ODI cricket and around 58 in tests.Is that not remarkable?
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Shahid Afridi has a superior S/R then him in both forms to no big deal, destruction should also be associated with guys who you genuinely fear in high pressure encounters which Kohli has mostly flopped in
 
Trescothick is criminally under rated, it seems these Indian posters always have a problem with the white skin or the brown one if it is from the wrong side of the border
 
Am happy to see Chris Gayle and Brian Lara in the list though, at least you're not THAT racist ; very refreshing from that part of the world to be fair so fair play
 
Where is Lance Klusner, OMG ; do you have a problem with South Africans as well ? tell me all about it
 
25 is a long list - I won’t go there. I think, the most destructive batsmen that I have seen (purely based on Test) are

1. Viv
2. Gilchrist
3. Sehwag

After that, it’s difficult to filter. Probably I’ll go with Lara, AdV, Slater, KP, Zaheer, Gayle, Hayden, Sanath, GPollock, Lloyd (how could op missed him!!!), Fredericks, Grineedge..., and definitely few others I can’t recall now - no particular order. Once set, among these lot, I probably fear Lloyd most and [MENTION=132062]Harsh Thakor[/MENTION], you missed him.
 
MMHS said:
25 is a long list - I won’t go there. I think, the most destructive batsmen that I have seen (purely based on Test) are

1. Viv
2. Gilchrist
3. Sehwag

After that, it’s difficult to filter. Probably I’ll go with Lara, AdV, Slater, KP, Zaheer, Gayle, Hayden, Sanath, GPollock, Lloyd (how could op missed him!!!), Fredericks, Grineedge..., and definitely few others I can’t recall now - no particular order. Once set, among these lot, I probably fear Lloyd most and [MENTION=132062]Harsh Thakor[/MENTION], you missed him.
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Absolutely ironic.I had Clive Lloyd originally at around 25 th in my first list but he just missed out to Kanhai,Ponting or Tendulkar.He was in my first list but to accommodate David Warner and Kevin Pieterson had to leave out Loyd.Tou are very ne correct.Where would you place Clive Loyd in this list?
 
Andrew symonds
Kevin petiersen
Sehwag
Viv richards
Saeed anwar
Rohit sharma
Chris cairns
Moin khan
Kamran akmal
Javed miandad
Ranatunga
Hayden
David Warner
Braithwaite
Yuvraj
Niall o brian
Andrew Flintoff
Barry richards
Daryl cullinan
Hershelle gibbs
Graeme Smith
David boon
Martin crowe
Kapil dev
Tamim iqbal
 
Harsh Thakor said:
Absolutely ironic.I had Clive Lloyd originally at around 25 th in my first list but he just missed out to Kanhai,Ponting or Tendulkar.He was in my first list but to accommodate David Warner and Kevin Pieterson had to leave out Loyd.Tou are very ne correct.Where would you place Clive Loyd in this list?
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Difficult question to answer. Let me put it this way - few times in 1960s & early 1970s Big Cat did bat with Sir Gary & RK in long partnerships, then for 12+ years few times with Viv as well - have to check data, but memory tells that he was the more destructive of the pairs more often than not. One figure I can recall - came at 50/3 to join Rohan Kanhai, left at 199...,,.for 85 balls 102, and Kanhai scored around 35 in roughly equal number of balls - yes, I am talking about 1975 WC Final, against a rampant DK, Thompson, Gilmore & Max Walkar.

Lloyd will be among my top 5-6 for sure, but I just don’t want to make any order here. And, we are talking about proper batsman here - otherwise, you have to add Carl’s Barthwaite as well.
 
chacha kashmiri said:
Andrew symonds
Kevin petiersen
Sehwag
Viv richards
Saeed anwar
Rohit sharma
Chris cairns
Moin khan
Kamran akmal
Javed miandad
Ranatunga
Hayden
David Warner
Braithwaite
Yuvraj
Niall o brian
Andrew Flintoff
Barry richards
Daryl cullinan
Hershelle gibbs
Graeme Smith
David boon
Martin crowe
Kapil dev
Tamim iqbal
Click to expand...

Bro, wondering what’s your criteria to list Boon & Tamim in that list?
 
What is up with random Top 10/20/25 lists on PP during last month for so??

Have fun guys no disrespect to anyone but I think it's becoming really pointless and less enjoyable.

You can never make a long list for a question like this because different cricketers have different levels and style of explosiveness.

If i exclude i lower order pinch hitters who do not have another way of batting anyway, then these are the most explosive batsmen I can think of :-

1. Sehwag
2. Jayasuriya
3. Gilchrist



These 3 were ALWAYS explosive and were proper top order batsmen.


The rest of the batsmen like Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, ABD, Hitman, Kohli, Gayle were more strategic in their explosiveness. They exploited weaknesses and picked their moments to go berzerk.
 
MMHS said:
Difficult question to answer. Let me put it this way - few times in 1960s & early 1970s Big Cat did bat with Sir Gary & RK in long partnerships, then for 12+ years few times with Viv as well - have to check data, but memory tells that he was the more destructive of the pairs more often than not. One figure I can recall - came at 50/3 to join Rohan Kanhai, left at 199...,,.for 85 balls 102, and Kanhai scored around 35 in roughly equal number of balls - yes, I am talking about 1975 WC Final, against a rampant DK, Thompson, Gilmore & Max Walkar.

Lloyd will be among my top 5-6 for sure, but I just don’t want to make any order here. And, we are talking about proper batsman here - otherwise, you have to add Carl’s Barthwaite as well.
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Kanhai was too old by 1975. Read that he had retired by then but was specifically called up for the WC at the insistence of Lloyd, for his experience in English conditions (like how Cowdrey was called up for 74-75 Ashes in Australia). Don't know the exact details but it was a past it RK and he did his job in the final after the top order collapse, drawing his experience. Peak Kanhai was as destructive as they come and he did it with unmatched style and panache.
 
terrible list

i think thats why one should limit to top 5s because its just too impossible to whittle down to 25 when if you take out the cream from the rest the difference becomes smaller in the rest
 
Destructive is a loaded term. For example, Sahid Afridi self destructed more often that not. Someone like Mohinder Amarnath or Misbah Ul Haq destructed any momentum their team used to have.
 
Gayle
devilliers
Jayasuriya
Gilchrist
Michael Bevan
Imran Nazir
 
Here is my list (not necessarily in this order):

  1. Gayle
  2. Shahid Afridi
  3. De Villiers
  4. Yuvraj
  5. Imran Nazir
  6. Maxwell
  7. Warner
  8. Sammy
  9. Tendulkar
  10. Sehwag
  11. Gibbs
  12. Gilchrist
  13. Symonds
  14. McCullum
  15. Klusener
  16. Jayasuriya
  17. Guptill
  18. Fakhar
  19. Eoin Morgan
  20. Ben Stokes
  21. Jos Butler
  22. Ijaz Ahmed
  23. Dhoni
  24. Rohit
  25. Kohli
 
sweep_shot said:
Here is my list (not necessarily in this order):

  1. Gayle
  2. Shahid Afridi
  3. De Villiers
  4. Yuvraj
  5. Imran Nazir
  6. Maxwell
  7. Warner
  8. Sammy
  9. Tendulkar
  10. Sehwag
  11. Gibbs
  12. Gilchrist
  13. Symonds
  14. McCullum
  15. Klusener
  16. Jayasuriya
  17. Guptill
  18. Fakhar
  19. Eoin Morgan
  20. Ben Stokes
  21. Jos Butler
  22. Ijaz Ahmed
  23. Dhoni
  24. Rohit
  25. Kohli
Click to expand...
Almost all Aussies one in this list
 
Major said:
I like how people love to criticize Misbah but are ok with michael Bevan. Both had the same strike rate
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Two different players from two different eras.

In Bevan's time, that strike-rate was excellent.
 
Major said:
I like how people love to criticize Misbah but are ok with michael Bevan. Both had the same strike rate
Click to expand...

I believe you started to watch cricket from 2006. So, you probably didn't watch Bevan live.

He could strike well and was known as a "finisher".

Anyway, I wouldn't put him among top 25 destructive batters.
 
No Zaheer Abbas?

Guy was striking it at a sr of 84 in the 70/80's

Playing 2000's cricket during his time
 
Barragan said:
No Zaheer Abbas?

Guy was striking it at a sr of 84 in the 70/80's

Playing 2000's cricket during his time
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Recency bias I guess.

Also, a lot of the posters here are from Generation Z I believe. They are unlikely to appreciate or even know pre-2000 players (let alone players from 1970's).

I watch cricket since 1997. I didn't watch Zaheer live.
 
Major said:
I like how people love to criticize Misbah but are ok with michael Bevan. Both had the same strike rate
Click to expand...
A) he contributed with the ball as well.

B) He actually finished games and took australia over the line comfortably.

Misbah bottled games, 2007, 2011 and his final t20 game against England being the biggest example.

Ct 2013 West indies game is also a massive bottle, He should have gotten his 100 and ensured pakistan got atleast 1 victory.
 
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