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Cricket PlayersFormer India opener and women’s team coach WV Raman names Indian cricket’s top three artists
How often have we heard cricket commentators use the words, “he is an artist” Well, it is not used loosely. It is used for those select few whose style is soothing to the eye. Former India opener WV Raman, who is currently the coach of the Indian women’s cricket team, took to Twitter and named ‘three top artists’ of Indian cricket.
In cricket there are batsmen, and then there are batsmen. Batting is an art and there are different kind of practitioners. Some like to dominate the bowlers, going after them with force. Some like to slug it out, use their perseverance to outwit the opponent. Some are outrageously gifted, who can spot it early and hit it hard. And then there are the touch artists, the ones with that wristy flair. Cool customers who go about their business with panache and style.
How often have we heard cricket commentators use the words, “he is an artist” Well, it is not used loosely. It is used for those select few whose style is soothing to the eye. Former India opener WV Raman, who is currently the coach of the Indian women’s cricket team, took to Twitter and named ‘three top artists’ of Indian cricket.
“Someone asked me to name top 3 artists in Indian cricket. GRV, Azzu and VVS. Like Van Gogh, Picasso and Monet. All geniuses,” he wrote.
The statement from Raman is high praise for these three batsmen, who were all great batsman in their own rights. All three of them were wristy batsmen, and played with a lot of poise and elegance. Another similarity is that all three of them played in the era of another great batsman, but they held their own due to their style.
Gundappa Viswanath played along side Sunil Gavaskar, Azharuddin played at the height of Sachin Tendulkar’s greatness, while VVS Laxman had competition from Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and the others. Yet, all three of them created a niche for themselves.
Viswanath scored 6080 runs in 91 Test matches at an average of 41.93. Azharuddin has 6215 runs to his name in 99 Tests at an average of 45.04 while Laxman bade adieu to the sport with 8781 runs in 134 Tests at an average 45.5.
