Bouncer
Local Club Star
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2005
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Since 1990s (more precisely when power play was introduced), most of the top openers are actually middle order players. Power Play is not about Afridi style bang bang and every team barring PAK brought their best batsman on top for 2 reasons - it gives them maximum overs to bat in and it allows them to punish every loose ball when 9 fielders are in.
Take a pick - it started with Latham/Greatbatch, then the prominent openers used in last 29 years (from middle order) are
AUS: Mark, Gilchrist, Watson, Clarke
IND: Tendulkar, Ganguly, Sehwag, Sharma
ENG: Botham, Stewart, KP
NZ: Astle, Fleming, BMac
SRL: Sanath, Kalu, Dilshan, Mahela
WIN: Lara, Hope, Philo Wales, Jackobs, Brown
SAF: Gibbs, Kock, Amla, AbdV
BD: Ashraful
ZIM: Andy Flower, Nail Johnson, B Taylor
..... and I am sure, I am missing few here. It was fortunate for PAK that Saeed & Sohail started domestic career as opener hence they were given opening slot despite being naturally aggressive players, otherwise No. 5 & 6 were their destiny to win it larke lenge style. And, it’s also surprising that the first move of this makeshift opener was started by a PAK Captain with Salim Yousuf.
Babar’s game is 110% suited for ODI opening, infact more than T20, where he is probably among top 3 batsman for last few years. But, PAK tank won’t use him as opener, because of one failure as opener 3 years back. Also, keeping him out of opening keeps 2 slots open for the chosen ones, because once he is settled as opener, for next 10-12 years, that one side of the opening pair will be locked.
Neither Amir nor Anwar were openers. Anwar opened after Imran wanted him to open after seeing the potential in him as a striker on bouncy wickets of Aus in 89 tour. He then even played a few games in late 92 early 93 in the middle order in Aus and SA.
Sohail in an interview to a cricket magazine in 1992 credetied Wasim Raja as someone who asked him to open a year or two before he played for Pak, Raja had told AS that Pak middle order is pretty settled with JM, SM and IK and his only possible way into Pak was as an opener. If my memory serves me right, Raja was also the one that pushed Amir to have a high back lift like Gooch.