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Who is the most exciting cricketer ever?

msb314 said:
LOL his best years were from 2004-2007.

In fact, most of our players did enjoy their peak years under Woolmer's coaching.

Afridi had a resurgence with the ball from 2011-13 but was mediocre otherwise.
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Nah man he's had a lot of games between 2011-2016 where he had match winning performances with both bat and ball. Just only had 3 mediocre tournaments in 2015 WC, 2012 and 2016 T20 WC.
 
I have been following cricket since the WI annihilation of England in their own backyard in 1984.
For me, these are undoubtedly the most exciting cricketers across all formats:

Batsman: Sir Vivian Richards. He had a majestic presence about him at the crease, and bowlers feared bowling to him.

Fast bowler: Waqar Younis. When he was on song and bowling at searing pace with late in swing, batsman were often made to hop around the crease to avoid his deadly toecrushers.

Spinner: Shane Warne. The master of legspin, with flight, drift and deadly turn. Owner of ball of the century to Gatting.

Keeper/ Batsman: Adam Gilchrist. Took power hitting to a new level. His was always a key wicket.

Allrounder: any one of Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, or Richard Hadlee. An embarrassment of riches of all round talent in the 1980s, all hugely exciting to watch. Perhaps in terms of excitement, Beefy would be top. Him and Viv playing for Somerset were hugely entertaining.
 
ExplicitAI said:
Nah man he's had a lot of games between 2011-2016 where he had match winning performances with both bat and ball. Just only had 3 mediocre tournaments in 2015 WC, 2012 and 2016 T20 WC.
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And 2014 World T20.

Afridi was always poor with the bat in every ICC tournament barring two fluke innings in the 2009 World T20 and was poor with the ball in every tournament too barring the 2011 WC.

His peak years were from 2004-2007. He scored all of his test centuries in that period except two of them and averaged 35+ at a 100+ SR during that period.

He won us several games during that period including the Bangalore Test of 2005, Kanpur ODI 2005, Karachi Test 2006, Mohali 2007 etc.
 
Boom Boom Afridi for sure though he underacheived for his team😬
 
Lara for sure, though I unfortunately was not able to see most of his career live and missed his peak. Still, the little I did see of him live and the countless hours of highlights I have seen of him he was by far the most exciting cricketer ever. No one can match his flair and charisma.
 
Surprised that no one mentioned yuvraj singh.
If we pick country wise then:
Boom boom-pak
Yuvi-india(or sehwag nowadays hardik)
Sanath-srilanka
Mushfiqur-ban
Gilly-aus(by a country mile)
Butler/morgan/pietersen-eng
Gibbs/abd-sa
Crowe/cairns/mcculum-nz
Gayle/viv-wi
Heath streak/andy flower/taylor-zim
 
From Pakistan Shoaib Akhtar. Closely followed by Afridi and waseem/waqar.

From Australia, brett lee,shane warne , Adam Gilchrist.

From India, kapil dev, krish srikant, yuvraj singh. Could have been Sandeep patil but he didnt play long enough.

From SA : lance klusener, Allan donald, AB devilliers

From England : KP

From Srilanka : Murli, sanath

From NZ : Bond, Nathan Astle

From Bangladesh : Mustafizur rehman
 
Sananath Jaysuria when I started watching cricket in 1996 world cup. Sanath and Kalu revolutionized odi cricket.

At a time when 50 or 60 runs in the first 15 overs was considered good, SL scored 117 runs in those overs against India, 123 vs Kenya, 121 vs England in the quarter-final and 86 against India in the semi-final.
 
Going to give it to Viv because he played in a bowling era without using helmets and was an exceptional player, certainly excited many who were unaccustomed to watching players bat that fast and with fearlessness.

Afridi is iffy because he had been an average all rounder, nothing spectacular, only excited casual Pakistani fans who go gaga over sixes.
 
CricFan2012 said:
Going to give it to Viv because he played in a bowling era without using helmets and was an exceptional player, certainly excited many who were unaccustomed to watching players bat that fast and with fearlessness.

Afridi is iffy because he had been an average all rounder, nothing spectacular, only excited casual Pakistani fans who go gaga over sixes.
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Many purist commentators have said that Afridi is their favorite cricketer.

ì also don't like most hitters, but still Afridi is one of my favorite player and was arguably the most exiting cricketer from 1996.

I loved watching Lara and KP bat.
Bowlers, Bond, Akhtar and Wasim Akram for me.
 
Mobashir said:
Many purist commentators have said that Afridi is their favorite cricketer.

ì also don't like most hitters, but still Afridi is one of my favorite player and was arguably the most exiting cricketer from 1996.

I loved watching Lara and KP bat.
Bowlers, Bond, Akhtar and Wasim Akram for me.
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Like?
 
Virat Kohli.

Even watching him field in interesting. His emotional ups and downs are a treat to watch
 
For his generation, it was IVA Richards
More recently, Adam Gilchrist
Amongst fast bowlers, MD Marshall and Wasim Akram
 
Shane bond at his peak.Also peak waqar younis and shane warne.
Batsman Tendulkar 90s and ABD.Another was zulu lance klusener.
 
Players I would sit down & watch:
Ambrose
I Khan
Warne
Gilchrist
Jayasuriya
Johnson
Akhtar
Lee
Chanderpaul- just fun to watch his technique
 
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