Greatest Left Handed Batsman of All Time
Table of content:
Introduction
Cricket is a very versatile game in itself and each player has a unique way of playing, which they implement in their playstyle. In real life, the number of right-handed individuals is significantly higher than the number of left-handed ones. Similarly in cricket, the count of right-handed batsmen is way more than the left-handed one. As per statistics, left-handed batsmen score more runs and stay on the pitch longer due to their uncommon and alternative style of batting, which often throws off the bowlers, who haven’t faced such circumstances commonly. In this article, we will take a look at the top 10 best left handed batsmen of all time. Let’s see who ranks number one as the world’s best left handed batsman and who are the others to follow.
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Top 10 Left Handed Batsmen of All Time.
A Table Including Stats of These Players
1. Brian Lara
The former West Indian cricket legend, Brian Lara is considered one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He started playing for team West Indies in 1990 with his debut ODI match against Pakistan at the National Stadium. His iconic batting style was left handed and with this, he struck every oncoming delivery with grace and sent the ball flying as the fans cheered his name.
As a batsman, Lara was a master at his job and made tons of runs with elegance. Lara played 131 Test matches in his career and made 11,953 runs with 400 runs as his personal best in a single match. And in the total 299 ODI games that he played, he scored 10,405 runs with a personal best in a match being 169 runs. With such statistics, there’s no doubt that Brian Lara is the world’s best left handed batsman in the history of cricket.
2. Kumar Sangakkara
The second player on this list is none other than the former Sri Lankan cricketer and captain, Kumar Sangakkara. Often recalled for his brilliance behind the wicket as the keeper, Sangakkara also had a massive impact on the pitch as a left handed batsman. In his close to fifteen years of international career, Sangakkara played 134 Test matches where he scored 12,400 runs with 319 runs being his personal best in the format.
He also played a massive total of 404 ODI matches where he scored 14,234 runs with 169 runs being his personal best record in a single inning. As a wicketkeeper-batsman, Sangakkara is widely considered the world’s best left handed batsman in cricket of the past decade.
3. Sourav Ganguly
Former Indian cricketer, Sourav Ganguly, is a cricket legend and a youth icon of aspiring players of the country. His international career with the Indian national men’s cricket team started back in 1992 and continued till 2008. His primary role for the squad was of a batter and he was remarkable in that aspect with his left-handed batting.
Sourav Ganguly, who is popularly referred to as “Dada”, had played 113 Test matches, where he scored 7,212 runs in total with a personal best of 239 runs. He also played 311 ODI matches, where he scored a total of 11,363 runs with a personal best of 183 runs. This is why, Ganguly is regarded as the world’s best left handed batsman from India of the recent generation.
4. Adam Gilchrist
The fourth player here is also the second wicketkeeper-batsman to be featured on this list. Adam Gilchrist is a former Australian cricket legend, who was a magnificent run-scorer and an anchor behind the wicket. He ranks fourth on the list due to the outstanding run haul that he pulled with his left handed batting. Gilchrist played 96 Test matches where he scored 5,570 runs with 204 as his high score in an innings.
In terms of the ODI format of cricket, he played 287 matches where he made 9619 runs with 172 runs as his personal best in an innings. Adam Gilchrist is admiringly regarded as the world’s best left handed batsman from Australia.
5. Matthew Hayden
Matthew Hayden is a former Australian cricketer who started his international cricket career in 1993, and it lasted till 2007. He was a batting allrounder who used to ideally bat left-handed and his opponents feared his presence and intent of scoring runs wherever he was on the field. Hayden played 103 Test matches where he scored a total of 8,625 runs with a personal best of 380 runs.
And in the total 161 ODI games, he scored an impressive grand total of 6,133 runs with a personal best of 181. Matthew Hayden was a fearless run-scoring machine who is worthy of the title of the world’s best left handed batsman of recent time.
6. Sir Garry Sobers
The former West Indian allrounder and legend, Garry Sobers, was a left-handed batsman himself. There’s no denying the fact that Sobers had a massive impact on West Indian and international cricket and contributed largely to the sport in general.
He was a prominent player in First-Class cricket where he played a total of 383 matches and scored 28,314 runs in total, with a personal best of 365 runs not out. He also took part in 93 Test matches with West Indies where he scored 8,032 runs with 365 runs not out being his personal best in an innings.
7. David Gower
The seventh player on this list is former English cricketer David Ivon Gower. Gower started his international cricket journey in 1978 with the England men’s cricket team and continued to play for them till 1992. He was a top-order batsman with a left-handed batting style. He was an amazing run-maker with a strong left-hand style, that claimed numerous runs in his career.
In the total 117 Test matches that he played, he scored 8,231 runs total with a personal best of 215 runs. And in the ODI format, he played 114 games where he scored 3,170 runs with 158 being his personal best in an inning. His run-scoring consistency had won him the title of the world’s best left handed batsman of his era.
8. David Warner
David Warner made his international cricket debut with Australia back on January 18th 2009, against South Africa at the Bellerive Oval. He is a very popular left-handed batsman of the present era of cricket, who made his name known in both the popular formats of the sport.
As of now, Warner has played in a total of 96 Test matches, where he had scored 7,817 runs with 335 runs being his best in an inning. And in terms of ODI format, he played 133 matches and made 5,610 runs with the highest in a game being 179.
9. Allan Border
The ninth place on this list is claimed by former Australian cricketer, Allan Robert Border. He was a middle-order batsman for the Aussies with a left-hand batting style. His international career spanned from 1978 to 1994, during which he played 156 Test matches where he scored 11,174 runs and made 6,524 runs in 273 ODI matches. His personal best in an innings is 205 runs in Test and 127 runs not out in ODI.
10. Saeed Anwar
The creative left-handed batsman and former Pakistani cricketer, Saeed Anwar ranks tenth on this list. He played in 55 Test matches and scored a total of 4,052 runs. He had also made 8,824 runs out of 247 total ODI games that he participated in. He had a personal high score of 188 runs in Test and 194 runs in ODI, in a single inning, respectively. Saeed Anwar is truly regarded as the world’s best left handed batsman from Pakistan.
What is An Ambidextrous Cricketer?
An ambidextrous cricketer may be defined as a player who utilises one hand while bowling and the opposite hand while batting. To explain it clearly, let us take the example of the Indian cricketer, Sourav Ganguly. He was a right-arm medium bowler but used his left hand predominantly while batting.
But there hasn’t been a player who can flawlessly bat in both left-hand and right-hand batting styles. In the recent era of cricket, there have been few players who can seamlessly switch between the left and right-arm styles of cricket in terms of bowling. A few examples would be Kamindu Mendis, Akshay Karnewar and Yasir Jan. However, there’s still a vacuum in the ambidextrous batsman category.
What is Switch Hitting in Cricket?
It was Kevin Peitersen who started the art of “switch hitting” back in 2008 in the international form of cricket. This technique involves the batsman changing their batting stance at the last second during an active delivery. This means a left-handed batsman would play a right-handed shot and vice versa. Many describe this form as “unfair”, whereas Pietersen likes to call it a “bit naughty.”
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