In Cricket, we have seen many great batsmen and bowlers. These greats will always be remembered for their contribution to the game. But sometimes, both batsmen and bowlers perform to their best potential. It only happens when a cricketer is in his prime and peak of his career, where it is seen that a particular cricketer is ahead of others. Many players have ruled the Cricket in their prime. So, here’s a list of ten cricketers with their unstoppable prime.
1. Ricky Ponting, 2002-2006
Australian batting legend Ricky Ponting is one of the best technically sound batsmen that this game has ever seen. From 2002 to 2006, this batsman enjoyed the best phase of his career. During his prime phase, he scored four double-centuries in test cricket, which indicates the level of prime he had seen in his career. In this period, Ponting had a combined average of almost 74 in test cricket, which is remarkable for any batsman. In the 2003 World Cup Final, he destroyed the Indian bowling line-up. At that time, every bowler in the world used to fear him.
2. Virat Kohli, 2014-2019
India’s aggressive batsman, Virat Kohli, is one of the biggest icons in today’s cricket. All the aspiring cricketers consider him a cricketing idol. Around 2014, Virat Kohli entered into his prime. After that, all the years went amazing for him. There was a time when Virat Kohli was the No. 1 batsman in all formats. In 2018, he had a batting average of 133 in the ODI, which is a dream for many batsmen. His combined test average from 2014 to 2019 was nearly 60. Because of his great prime and hard work, Kohli remained the No. 1 batsman in ODI cricket for 1,258 days.
3. Dale Steyn, 2008-2014
It is the longest prime seen by any bowler in the world. Undoubtedly, Dale Steyn is one of the greatest bowlers who has ever played this game. He was a complete fast bowler who had all the things of a fast bowler. Dale Steyn could swing the ball, he could bowl at a raw pace, and other things as well. From 2008 to 2014, Dale Steyn took 313 wickets in test cricket. Dale Steyn received the award of ICC 2008 Test Cricket of the Year. He even remained the No. 1 Test bowler for six years, which is the most by any bowler in the history of cricket.
4. Rohit Sharma, 2016-2019
There are very few players who have the god-gifted talents like Rohit Sharma. The way he time and hit the ball is so elegant and effortless. From 2016 to 2019, Rohit Sharma was in his prime. Especially in white-ball cricket, he was the beast and nightmare of bowlers. In ODI, he had a combined average of nearly 66. In the 2019 World Cup, he was the highest run-scorer with five centuries in a single edition of the World Cup, which is an unbreakable record.
5. Kumar Sangakkara, 2010-2015
Sri Lankan Legend, Kumar Sangakkara is the best batsman that Sri Lanka has ever produced. He is the second-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket and sixth-highest in test cricket. His dangerous prime came in the year between 2010 and 2015. In this period, he became a headache for opponents. In 2010, he had an exceptional average of 99.3 in test cricket, which means in every innings he almost scored a century. In the 2015 World Cup, Sangakkara scored 541 runs with the help of 4 centuries, which was the record for most centuries by a player in a single ICC tournament and he was the second highest run scorer in that World Cup.
6. AB de Villiers, 2011-2016
The player with 360-degree shots, AB de Villiers, had always been a nightmare for any bowlers. He is the kind of player who used to smash Dale Steyn when he was in his prime. During this period, AB de Villiers had a combined average of 68 in ODI cricket. In January 2005, he broke the world record of fastest century in ODI cricket by completing his century in 31 balls. In World Cup 2015, he was the nightmare of bowlers in death overs. In 2014 and 2015, AB de Villiers won the ICC ODI Player of the Year award.
7. Kevin Pietersen, 2005-2008
Kevin Pietersen was one of the most stylish and destructive batsmen in England. Nowadays in cricket, most of the batsmen play sweep and switch hit. But Kevin Pietersen was one of the first players who invented and played shots like Reverse Sweep and Switch hit. In 2005 ashes, Kevin Pietersen was the most run-scorer batsman. Within this period, he had an average of nearly 50 in test cricket. He was also the player of the tournament in the 2010 World Cup.
8. Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2009-2012
It is one of the most underrated primes in cricket history, as many don’t know about Tillakaratne Dilshan’s prime phase. Between 2009 and 2012, Dilshan was in the prime of his career and also a headache for the bowlers as well. During his prime, he had an average of 42 in test matches, which was decent. But In ODI cricket, he has an average of 45. Dilshan was also the highest run-scorer in the 2011 World Cup.
9. David Miller, 2014-2017
South African lower middle-order batsman David Miller is one of the most dangerous strikers in modern cricket. David Miller is the backbone of the South African team as he has the responsibility of scoring runs at a high strike rate. Between 2014 to 2017, Miller had an average of 51 in ODI cricket which is a mind-blowing average for every middle-order batsman. At that time, he also had one of the best strike rates; his strike rate in ODI cricket was around 130. In this period, he was the nightmare of bowlers in death overs.
10. Michael Clarke, 2008-2013
It is also one of the most underrated primes of any batsman. Mostly people talk about Ponting’s prime, Steve Smith’s prime but the prime of Michael Clarke was no less. In his prime, Michael Clarke was a batsman who was invincible and very hard to get dismissed. From 2008 to 2013, Clarke had an average of 57 in test matches and an average of 46 in ODI cricket. He also played a crucial in the 2015 World Cup as Clarke was also the winning captain of the 2015 World Cup.
