3 openers with most international runs in a calendar year
Opening the batting is a job that not many have mastered over the years. It requires an extra amount of skill and indomitable technique to excel at any level of cricket, irrespective of the format of the game. It is the opening batsman who gets to face the bowlers in their first burst when they are expected to be most lethal during their entire spell of bowling. An opener is always thrown into the deep waters to see off the new ball and protect the rest of the batting order from getting exposed against the shiny cherry.
However, the flip side of the coin presents an opportunity for any opener to perform and make hay before any other batsman in the entire line-up. He might be up against a menacing attack but the ability to control instincts and show composure offers a chance to succeed more often than not.
Some of the batsmen have shown the ability to dominate the bowlers as openers. Here we take a look at 3 batsmen who did exceedingly well to emerge as the highest run-getter in a calendar year as openers across all formats.
#3 Virender Sehwag – 2355 runs in 2008
One of India’s greatest assets in Test cricket, Virender Sehwag, was occasionally put in the same bracket as the great Sunil Gavaskar, only because of the kind of impact that he had on the game. Sehwag played Test cricket in T20 style and re-defined how Test match batting was perceived in India.
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He introduced his style of attack and allowed India to win more Test matches during his stint as an opener. 2008 was a year that was a stepping stone for the ‘Nawab of Nazafgarh’ as he claimed his highest international score of 319 against South Africa in Chennai. The Indian opener was at the heart of India’s success at home and was one of the rare batsmen who could win matches as an opener.
He notched up 2355 runs at an average of 52.33 including 14 fifties and four centuries in 2008.