There have been some incredible batsmen in cricket over the years. Shane Warne, Sir Ian Bothman, Imran Khan, Sir Garfield Sobers, and Sachin Tendulkar are just some of the names that come to mind!
But what about today’s current crop of players? Which three batsmen stand out at present?
England’s Joe Root – (923 Rating)
If you take a look at cricket on Sportsbet and other popular bookmaker websites, you will notice that Joe Root’s odds are typically the shortest, and it is not hard to see why.
Root made his test debut in 2012, and his ODI debut in 2013. He also captained the England test team for five years. As England captain, he holds the records for the most Test matches (64), and the most wins (27). The England and Wales Cricket Board named Root in the country’s greatest Test XI of all time on England’s 1,000th test.
He also became the 14th batsman and the only second English batsman to score 10,000 test runs.
You may be surprised to learn that he originally started his career playing as an opener, yet this soon changed, with most of his cricket career for England being in the middle order.
Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne – (885 Rating)
Next, we have Marnus Labuschagne, who plays domestically for Queensland and internationally for the Australian national team. Labuschagne has gone from strength to strength in recent years. In fact, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named Labuschagne the ICC Men’s Emerging Cricketer of the Year in 2020. They then went on to award him Australia’s Test player of the year in 2022.
What may surprise most people reading this is how Labuschagne got his opportunity to make an impact. In August 2019, during a Lord’s Ashes Test against England, Steven Smith was felled by Jofra Archer’s bouncer. This resulted in Labuschagne becoming the first concussion substitute in the history of Test cricket, as the protocol had not been used before. It turned out to be just the opportunity he needed, as the talented cricketer has never looked back since.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam – (879 Rating)
Last but not least, we have Babar Azam of Pakistan. Azam is the only batsman across the globe to be in the top three world rankings across all formats. Impressive, right?
He is the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in all formats and is widely regarded as one of the best batsmen in contemporary cricket.
A top-order, right-handed batsman, in the PSL he captains Karachi Kings and Central Punjab in domestic cricket. At just 27 years old, he is already Pakistan’s second most successful T20l captain.
He has also won a number of awards and accolades over the years. In 2021, he was named PCB’s ODI Cricketer of the Year and the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year. In 2020, he was named the Player of the Tournament in the Pakistan Super League. This simply scratches the surface!