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Cricket Players'Sachin's straight drives were a pleasure to watch but very hard when you were chasing the ball': Ian Bell
Ian Bell, one of England’s greatest match-winners in the modern era, said the legendary Sachin Tendulkar had the best-ever straight drive in the business and he would like his ideal batsman to have that.
Former England batsman Ian Bell selected his ideal 360-batsman with the best shots from some of the greats of the game. Bell’s perfect batsman had the best shots of Sachin Tendulkar, Alastair Cook, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Rohit Sharma, Kevin Pietersen and himself.
Bell, one of England’s greatest match-winners in the modern era, said the legendary Tendulkar had the best-ever straight drive in the business and he would like his ideal batsman to have that.
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"Sachin Tendulkar (for straight drive), the best I saw on the field growing up. A pleasure to watch sometimes, hard to watch when you are on the field and chasing the leather," Bell said in an ESPNCricinfo video.
For the cover drive, Bell had to make a tough decision among India captain Virat Kohli and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam but he went ahead with himself. "Babar Azam like, Kohli, has got a lot of time but I'd give it to myself," he said.
The only other Indian batsman's attribute which Bell would like to have in his perfect batter is of India limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma's pull shot. "Watching him (Rohit) against Jofra Archer's pace this winter. I know you could say it's a pull shot or hook shot. But I have faced Archer before, that's not an easy shot," he said.
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The right-hander, who scored more than 13000 runs for England across three formats, said the ideal 360-batsman should have the cut shot of his former captain Cook. "Alastair Cook for cross-batted shots, pull and cut. Really hard to bowl at," he said.
Bell added that he would like his perfect batsman to have the reverse sweep like Ben Stokes and the scoop like Jos Buttler. "He (Buttler) makes it so easy, like crazy. I have watched him doing practice at nets. Looks silly at times but he's a genius," said Bell.
Root's sweep and Pietersen's six straight down the ground complete Bell's perfect batsman.
