4 Opening batsmen who changed the course of Test match batting
Test cricket is an ultimate reflection of life. A cliche as it may seem, it proceeds to test a batsmen's patience, perseverance, tenacity to the hilt. But, more importantly, it proceeds to test the character of a cricketer.
Among the many challenges that Test cricket poses, the most prudent of them is opening the batting on fresh pitches, hostile conditions and menacing fast-bowlers with the ball seaming around off the deck.
Back in the day, coaches would tell the young prodigies to respect the playing conditions, bowlers and play conventional textbook cricket. The likes of Gavaskar, Cook, Taylor, Atherton belong to that school of thought, who used to grind it out in tough conditions while settling into a rhythm when the conditions eased off.
Gavaskar, in particular, was the perfect example of that 'school of thought'. The right-handed batsmen had a plethora of patience as well as tenacity at his disposal. And if you take into account the quality of bowlers that he had to face, the term 'tenacity' means in every literal sense of the world.
But, of course, just as in life, different individuals react to situations differently and have their own way of going about their business. Apart from the aforementioned skills required to succeed in Test Cricket, there is one more term which is often misconstrued by the cricketing folklore- playing positive cricket. Playing positive cricket does not mean going hammer and tongs from the word go. But, it is a reflection of an innate self-confidence in a cricketer, ready to take on the opposition and play in a manner that upsets the plans as well as the mental composure of the opposition.
In the past 50 years, there have been few openers in Test cricket who, with a plethora of talent at their disposal and immense self-confidence in their ability defied textbook stuff and consequently brought about a revolution in Test match batting in their respective era. Having said that, today, in this slider, we'll have a look at opening batsmen who changed the course of Test match batting
Having said that, today, in this slider, we'll have a look at opening batsmen who changed the course of Test match batting.