ICC asks who is the greatest puller of all time; KP, Bhajji offer split opinion
Harbhajan Singh and Kevin Pietersen are spilt in their opinion as to who is the greatest puller of the ball of all time. Replying to a question asked by ICC on Twiter, the ace Indian spinner chose Ricky Ponting and Rohit Sharma as the best pullers of the cricket ball, while Pietersen chose a slightly unknown option in the former South Africa cricketer Andrew Hudson.
Hudson played 35 Tests and 89 One Day Internationals for his country scoring, 2007 and 2559 runs in the respective formats. The swashbuckling batsman was known for an array of shots, among which he held tremendous mastery over the pull and the slog sweep. While his risk-taking ability made him the batsman that he was, it also led to his downfall on several occasions.
Here is the highlights to Hudson's highest score in the ODI cricket.
Harbhajan however went with the traditional choices, given the former Australian captain was widely regarded as the best puller of his time.
Ponting himself has spoken about his pull shot post his retirement, stating that it was the early start to his career that led to him to play the shot that well. Ponting expanded on his words stating that since he was playing on synthetic wickets that bounced more than the natural ones, he had to adjust given his defensive instinct at that time.
"I was a ten or eleven year old kid playing A grade cricket against some of the fastest bowlers in the state. I was always playing on synthetic wickets against the natural turf, so obviously the bounce was a lot higher," he had said in a Cricket Australia video.
"I was always looking to get on the front foot, because I had the bat up nice and high and my hands up nice and high, it was a very natural shot for me," Ponting further added.
Bhajji also included Rohit Sharma in the list who made quite a name for himself with his pull and hook in the overseas conditions.
Who is your favourite puller of all time? Have your say in the comments below.