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Many batsman have come and gone over the ages. They have been able to have a lasting impression on the cricket fan. Batting is an art mastered by the bests in the game. The better batsman of the ages have defied age and critics, and are remembered still by the cricket aficionados. Batting stances vary, but end of the day it is the hunger to score runs that keeps a batsman stay in the hunt. Range of batsmen who have played this gentleman’s game starts from W.G.Grace to Don Bradman and extends till Quinton De Kock. If you check the history of cricket, there have been batsman who made name for themselves initially but couldn’t do justice to their talent in the long run. How do you make an analysis of some of the finest batsman over the three formats – Tests, ODI and T20. Taking a look at the batting average is one tool, although its not conclusive and final. Hence, we take a look at the Top 10 Batsmen with the highest batting average all the formats combined (Test,ODI,T20): 1. Virat Kohli Virat Kohli of India celebrates after scoring a century (India) – 52.73 Virat Kohli is regarded as the best batsman to play for India ever since Sachin Tendulkar hung up his boots in 2013. Virat Kohli has took the burden of scoring runs for India since then. But unlike other batsman he has been doing well and scoring runs at will. Kohli does not have a format where he can pick up, because he plays every format with the same character. Kohli has a natural tendency to be aggressive and play on the front foot like Sir Viv. He doesn’t back down from any challenge and moreover, he lets the bat do the talking in most occasions. In the ODI and T20 format, he owns every other player currently in the playing mix. It is in the test format he may have not achieved like he wanted to, but then he is just 28 and time is in plenty for the Indian cricketer. I mentioned earlier about Root having 22 hundreds overall, Kohli has 44 to is name which is double. He averages 52.73. 2. Joe Root Joe Root of England (England) – 50.55 Just 26 years old and already a veteran of 22 hundreds overall. The best batsman from Yorkshire after Geoffrey Boycott. Joe Root has been touted as a modern day great by many, including England and non-England former players. Joe Root averages 50 plus in test cricket and has been the talisman for England for the past few years. He is still young and already a master batsman at the top level. Root averages 50.55 overall across formats. 3. Steve Smith Steve Smith of Australia (Australia) – 49.82 Steve Smith is among the best batsman in world cricket at the moment. He has been dominating the Test format for sometime now. He is the no.1 batsman currently in Test cricket substantiates his stature as a test batsman. He averages 61 compared to a 44 in one day cricket shows how well he has adapted to this format. The transformation of a leg spinner to a top order batsman is one of the most inspiring stories in cricket you will ever witness. He is just 28 and destined for more glory in the future. He averages 49.82. 4. Greg Chappell Former Indian Cricket team coach Greg Chappell (Australia) – 49.68 Greg Chappell was simply the best batsmen of his generation. You have to be of a certain age to understand how good Greg Chappell was as a batsman. Chappell score century in his first and last test. He always had an appetite for runs, scored 7110 runs at a batting average of 53.86. He scored 24 hundreds and 31 fifties speaks of his crave for big scores. He was also good in ODI format as well, although he couldn’t play much of it. He always valued his wicket more than anything. Mostly his credentials as a batsman goes un noticed given the fact that Greg had an un-successful stint with Sourav Ganguly while working as coach. He averages 49.68 overall. 5. Jacques Kallis Jacques Kallis of South Africa (South Africa) – 49.10 Easily regarded as one of the best all rounders in world cricket. He was a talisman for South Africa when they were struggling for survival. Batting mainstay at the middle order, was able to carve out Proteas from many collapses and pressure situations. He was a very good fast bowler and an excellent fielder at the slips. One would be confused to call him a batting or bowling all rounder because he was excellent as a batsman and as a bowler. But he boasts of a test batting average more than cricket god Sachin Tendulkar. Make no mistake he is no small bloke with the bat, he can pack a punch when it matters the most. He is at no.5 with an average of 49.10. 6. Michael Hussey Mike Hussey of Australia poses following a Hall of Fame (Australia) – 49.00 Michael Hussey was the perfect answer to Australia’s hopes for a finisher after Michael Bevan. In fact they got a better form of Bevan. Bevan was damn good in the ODI format, but Hussey was an all round player. He could open the batting, play in the middle order or finish matches for Australia, He was good enough to play all the formats of the game, even the t20s. He was a star from the time he entered international cricket, but he waited 10 years to be that. One would think it would have been lot better had he arrived into the international scene a bit early. He is known widely as Mr. Cricket for his attributes in the field as a gentleman cricketer. He is electrifying in the field and never complains about his batting order. He grew up as an opener but had to settle himself in the middle order. Such was the competition in Australian cricket those days. He averages 49.00. 7. Vivian Richards Sir Vivian Richards of West Indies (West Indies) – 48.75 Sir Vivian Richards created fear in the bowler’s eyes with his physical presence and his scintillating stroke play. During his time no bowler could ever intimidate the great Vivian Richards. He used to massacre the bowlers as and when he saw them. He used to take guard at the crease, chewing a gum confident as anyone else. The sight was frightening for everyone else in the field. Even the non-strikers were not safe when this enormously physical lad was batting. He was equally destructive in test cricket as he was in one dayers. Even during those he had a strike rate of 90+ in ODI. It speaks volumes of the destructive presence he was on the field. Richards entry into coming to bat was beautiful like an entrance for a movie character. It was heroic. It was enthralling. Only missing thing was a background music.He averages 48.75 across all the formats, though he hasn’t played t20 cricket. If he had played the format, how destructive would he have been. No weakness player, maybe the crave for domination sometimes if that can be taken as a weakness. 8. Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar- The God of Cricket (India) – 48.52 The man who needs no mention in Indian cricket – Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. The little man from Mumbai who holds most of the records in world cricket. He excelled across all the formats – barring t20 cricket due to the fact that by the time t20 cricket became popular he hung up his boots. Even then he has displayed his sheer class in the IPL in this aspect of the game as well. There were days n Indian cricket when cricket fans would switch off their T.V. sets after the fall of his wicket. He was a perfectly blended batting phenomenon by all means. Sachin was a nightmare for bowlers like Warne and Murali. You can imagine the weight and substance of this enormously talented cricket if the legends have to get nightmares about him. He averages 48.52. 9. Hashim Amla Hashim Amla South African batsman (South Africa) – 48.13 Hashim Amla has to be among the most hard working batsmen in world cricket. There was a time in his career when he was struggling to make runs. Then came another phase in his career when he mainly tagged as a test batsman. But over the years he has found answers for all those and turned the tables on his side. The recent IPL saw him score a century off 60 odd balls. Such is the growth and maturity he has achieved as a batsman. Hashim Amla has been chasing records in the one day format. He averages 48.13 in all the formats combined. 10. Ab de Villiers AB de Villiers of South Africa (South Africa) – 47.96 Ab de Villiers is a player who needs no introduction whatsoever. He is an all round player. He has excelled in every format he has played. One of the best players to play the gentleman’s game. He is an entertainer in ODI and t20 cricket. But make no mistake he knows very well to play the long innings. He has mastered and played all the shots in the book. Besides the shots from the batting manual, he has a few of his own. He averages 47.96 across all formats. Also read- Top 10 bowlers with most 5 wicket haul in Test Cricket

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