10 current cricketers for whom fans will pay anything to watch
Warner’s aggressive batting in all formet is always wonderful to watchBefore we get all emotional about this list, there are a few harsh truths to come to terms with. People rarely go to a ground thinking, ‘I so want to see Sunil Narine of the funky hairstyle tweak the ball’.Rarely, I said, before you go berserk. Yes, some of us absolutely love to hear the ball thudding into the gloves of a wicket-keeper when Dale Steyn steams in, in whites. But, he is a minority. Mostly, people go to watch the batsman slog helpless bowlers.Yes, we love a contest between bat and ball, like ‘that one’ between Sachin and Steyn. But, at the end of the day, a majority of us, love to watch the bat win. The simple, logical reason behind that is the impact.We, as the audience can enjoy a ball flying out of the ground compared to the ball reverse swinging in and then moving out off-seam beating the bat. There is no way for the audience to relish that in the ground. Even on TV it is sometimes hard to pick.The gorgeous cover drive on the other hand or an emphatic pull can be cherished and relished. So, the list below mostly has batsmen. All of these are current players who can draw crowds.Mind you, quite a few names don’t make logical sense. For example, Shoaib Malik isn’t the list, even though on current form he is better than quite a few players here. Eoin Morgan misses out too, narrowly, in spite of showing what he is capable of in the last 10 ODIs England has played.Lasith Malinga hasn’t been the bowler he used to be over the last one year, crushing feet and uprooting stumps. Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson are two bowlers I would still want to watch live, but they are not exactly what you call crowd-pullers.
#1 AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers got a standing ovation at Kanpur in the first ODI between India and South Africa. When he was on the brink of a century, the crowd chanted, ‘AB, AB’. That is his popularity.
People around the world consider AB a freak, a genius who hits the ball as he pleases. Most of his centuries have come at faster than a run a ball. More importantly, his innings are filled with incredible strokes.
Some batsmen hit powerful shots, some hit elegant shots. AB hits elegantly powerful shots, like scooping a low full toss for six over long on, flicking a length ball over deep square leg with one leg and lofting full deliveries over extra cover by moving deep inside the crease.
When AB is on the crease, the incredible is always a ball away, not to mention his lightning pace between the wickets. As a fielder or a wicket-keeper he is sublime too, making him the all-round entertainer. As if all that is not enough, he is a no-nonsense cricketer, a true sportsman, who never sledges, applauds good performance from the opposition and is sweet, in the true sense of the world.