5 Best Asian opening batsmen

The openers are vital to the team as they decide the course of the game. When an opener comes out all guns blazing it’s up to the middle order to carry on the momentum. When the openers play slow and steady, it’s a boon as well as a bane. They might get out after wasting the balls or speed up the scoring rate.

This is the importance of an opener. An opener gets ample time to read the pitch, settle and accelerate the innings, at the same time he has to face the new ball and disallow the bowlers to settle with his counter-attack. Cricket has seen numerous openers from Clive Lloyd to Mehidy Hasan, only a few have been able to conquer the bowlers and leave a mark in our memories. Here we list 5 best Asian openers of all time in ODI cricket:

#1. Sachin Tendulkar

The God of cricket garnered the opening position in 344 matches. Azharuddin’s decision to open the innings with Sachin turned out to be a beneficial move as he went on to become one of the greatest openers of all time. Sachin made a mark in his very first match as an opener with a blazing 82 runs off just 49 balls. Tendulkar has scored a humongous 15310 runs while opening with an average of 48.30. Sachin reached the milestone of first 200 in ODIs while opening.

Unlike the attacking openers, Sachin had his own style of approach that made him one of the greatest openers to play the game. The staggering numbers provide an evidence for the same. Sachin who has made a legacy for himself will also be remembered for his opening stint as well.