Who were the most elegant or stylish of all batsmen of all ??

[Harsh Thakor 23]

This is my selection in order of merit of the most elegant or artistic batsmen of all time.They were simply the equivalent of connoiseurs to the game of cricket.Their batting was simply poetry in motion or reminsicent of a Rembrandt canvas.Their deftest touche sent the ball rolling to the boundary.Their strokes were like the touches of a painters brush.All took art of batting to regions of divinity,holding the bat like a wand.

 

 

1.David Gower

2.Frank Worrell

3.Zaheer Abbas

4.Mohammad Azharuddin

5.Gundappa Vishwanath

6.Majid Khan

7.Lawrence Rowe

8.Ted Dexter

9.Rohan Kanhai

10.V.V.S.Laxman

11.Mark Waugh

12.Martin Crowe

13.Greg Chappell

14.Mahela Jayewardene

15.Alvin Kalicharan

 

The 1st 4 were virtually a dead heat.No batsmen ever displayed such ease on the crease as Gower who treated the most lethal cricket balls like a mother putting a child to sleep with characteristic silken touch.Worrel was the epitome of elegance .Zaheer, Azhar, Vishy and Majid  took batting artistry to regions of the sublime like a musical composer.Zaheer and Azhar more like poets,Zaheer and Majid reminiscent of magicians.Rowe was more elegant than any West Indian batsmen of his era.Even when showing contempt Dexter would never lose his golden touch.Kanhai was the ultimate batting wizard.V.V.Surpassed even Tendulkar in terms of battting innovation.Mark Waugh was classical in his execution even when tearing an attack to shreds.Growe was simply poetry in motion.Jayewardene had a characteristic sublime touch.

 

For pure elegance  or beauty Gower and Worrell just edged Zaheer and Azhar .Still the latter were better protagonists of pure touch art.For creativity Kanhai  Vishy ,Laxman ,Majid and Crowe were supreme .I feel Zaheer Abbas or Azharuddin by a whisker had more of the element of beauty than Vishwanath or Majid in the poetic sense.Similar case between Lawrence Rowe and Rohan Kanhai.

Edited Thursday at 10:03 AM by Harsh Thakor

[velu 16,190]

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[Harsh Thakor 23]

2 minutes ago, velu said:

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Like any of my choices Agree on Aravinda close to top dozen if not there.

[Harsh Thakor 23]

Just now, Harsh Thakor said:

Like any of my choices Agree on Aravinda close to top dozen if not there.

Who is your choice?

[Nikola 2,052]

Carl hooper has to be there. He made batting look so easy and elegant on his day.

[mishra 3,708]

whats the point of this vote. Most players in the list, are from an era when we never had a tele. Even random highlights we have access to. They are of so poor quality thats its hard to even see the bat , forget the ball.

[mishra 3,708]

I have seen matches and players since eighties. For me layers who can hit text book shots, So In terms of elegance Only three players. Dravid Lara Ponting.

Most modern day bats play with heavier bats and can not replicate the movement.

 

 

[Jimmy Cliff 3,794]

Mark Waugh for me. When someone talks about stylish batsmen, the first image in my mind is Mark Waugh nonchalantly flicking it through the on side.

[bahubali 211]

1 hour ago, Harsh Thakor said:

This is my selection in order of merit of the most elegant or artistic batsmen of all time.They were simply the equivalent of connoiseurs to the game of cricket.Their batting was simply poetry in motion or reminsicent of a Rembrandt canvas.Their deftest touche sent the ball rolling to the boundary.Their strokes were like the touches of a painters brush.All took art of batting to regions of divinity,holding the bat like a wand.

 

 

1.David Gower

2.Frank Worrell

3.Zaheer Abbas

4.Mohammad Azharuddin

5.Gundappa Vishwanath

6.Majid Khan

7.Lawrence Rowe

8.Ted Dexter

9.Rohan Kanhai

10.V.V.S.Laxman

11.Mark Waugh

12.Martin Crowe

13.Greg Chappell

14.Mahela Jayewardene

15.Alvin Kalicharan

 

The 1st 4 were virtually a dead heat.No batsmen ever displayed such ease on the crease as Gower who treated the most lethal cricket balls like a mother putting a child to sleep with characteristic silken touch.Worrel was the epitome of elegance .Zaheer, Azhar, Vishy and Majid  took batting artistry to regions of the sublime like a musical composer.Zaheer and Azhar more like poets,Zaheer and Majid reminiscent of magicians.Rowe was more elegant than any West Indian batsmen of his era.Even when showing contempt Dexter would never lose his golden touch.Kanhai was the ultimate batting wizard.V.V.Surpassed even Tendulkar in terms of battting innovation.Mark Waugh was classical in his execution even when tearing an attack to shreds.Growe was simply poetry in motion.Jayewardene had a characteristic sublime touch.

 

For pure elegance  or beauty Gower and Worrell just edged Zaheer and Azhar .Still the latter were better protagonists of pure touch art.For creativity Kanhai  Vishy ,Laxman ,Majid and Crowe were supreme .I feel Zaheer Abbas or Azharuddin by a whisker had more of the element of beauty than Vishwanath or Majid in the poetic sense.Similar case between Lawrence Rowe and Rohan Kanhai.

If you talk about elegance where is Rohit Sharma or Yuvraj

[Harsh Thakor 23]

28 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

Mark Waugh for me. When someone talks about stylish batsmen, the first image in my mind is Mark Waugh nonchalantly flicking it through the on side.

Great choice In his era right there.Above even Lara and Sachin as a stylist

[Harsh Thakor 23]

48 minutes ago, Nikola said:

Carl hooper has to be there. He made batting look so easy and elegant on his day.

Good choice

[Harsh Thakor 23]

29 minutes ago, bahubali said:

If you talk about elegance where is Rohit Sharma or Yuvraj

Yuvraj right up there.

[Harsh Thakor 23]

39 minutes ago, mishra said:

I have seen matches and players since eighties. For me layers who can hit text book shots, So In terms of elegance Only three players. Dravid Lara Ponting.

Most modern day bats play with heavier bats and can not replicate the movement.

 

 

Not Ponting.Lara and Dravid debatable .

[gooner 41]

Damien Martyn, VVS, Rohit, Jayawardena, Yuvraj. These are the players I had the opportunity to watch and all are our contemporaries.

[Harsh Thakor 23]

19 minutes ago, gooner said:

Damien Martyn, VVS, Rohit, Jayawardena, Yuvraj. These are the players I had the opportunity to watch and all are our contemporaries.

Great choices sir.VVS and Jaya right up there with the best stylists.Damien close

[Khota 3,522]

Can someone explain to me what style and elegance have to do with batting?

 

It is all about runs and striking the ball cleanly.

 

For me it is a toss up between Viv and Sehwag.

[Harsh Thakor 23]

7 minutes ago, Khota said:

Can someone explain to me what style and elegance have to do with batting?

 

It is all about runs and striking the ball cleanly.

 

For me it is a toss up between Viv and Sehwag.

Cricket is also an art and has an aesthetic aspect.

[Khota 3,522]

8 minutes ago, Harsh Thakor said:

Cricket is also an art and has an aesthetic aspect.

Fair enough.I do understand some people like that. I only like boundaries even when they are scored by tailenders. I am not sophiticated at all.

[Straight Drive 2,898]

Lara for the bat-lift, the quick foot movement, the flow of the bat. Delightful watching him bat.

Edited Thursday at 01:44 PM by Straight Drive

[sarcastic 619]

2 hours ago, Harsh Thakor said:

Great choices sir.VVS and Jaya right up there with the best stylists.Damien close

What about Rohit> You seem to be silent on him. 

[Cricketics 8,462]

Whenever the word "Stylish" and "Elegant" will be used for batting, no one should forget VVS Laxman.

 

His drives were some of the most elegant shots seen. He indeed was elegant. One of the most actually by far. During 2007 tour, UK commies were in awe of how well he was timing. Shastri, as a commentator was pretty good at defining Laxman's batting when he was at the crease. 

 

Laxman to me is right up there. Like many experts have said "Very easy to the eyes"

 

They say some players make it look easy, Laxman really made batting look easy with his elegant drives. 

 

[Ankit_sharma03 12,905]

i have seen videos of david gower and no one made me say wow as much as his batting, so easy to eyes 

[Temujin Khaghan 2,668]

@Harsh Thakor what is your experience in watching cricket? Since which year have you been following cricket? Did you read a lot of cricketer biographies? Did you actually saw/heard on live radio these pre-80s cricketers and their gameplay? Or are you making assumptions from Cricinfo articles - meaning is it second hand analysis from someone else's research or experience.

 

For example can you say the strengths and weaknesses of Rohan kanhai Vs David Gower. Can you give any information which is not easily found on the internet.

 

My intention is not to bully you, but the rest of us need to know if the op making these threads actually knows what he is talking about.

 

Tell us about your cricket watching background.

[vvvslaxman 8,147]

[gakgupta 1,197]

MSD should have been there....

[zen 6,584]

Voted Martin Crowe .... haven't seen such amazing batting in WC since 1992 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[kaptaan 14]

Rohit Sharma 

[Straight Drive 2,898]

Running close between Mark Waugh and Sachin at 4 each.

[Tattieboy 679]

9 hours ago, Temujin Khaghan said:

@Harsh Thakor what is your experience in watching cricket? Since which year have you been following cricket? Did you read a lot of cricketer biographies? Did you actually saw/heard on live radio these pre-80s cricketers and their gameplay? Or are you making assumptions from Cricinfo articles - meaning is it second hand analysis from someone else's research or experience.

 

For example can you say the strengths and weaknesses of Rohan kanhai Vs David Gower. Can you give any information which is not easily found on the internet.

 

My intention is not to bully you, but the rest of us need to know if the op making these threads actually knows what he is talking about.

 

Tell us about your cricket watching background.

I don't know his background but he is  pretty much on money with his choices . It's something I could say yeah I could go with that . 

[Aiden 30]

Saeed Anwar

[MechEng 1,982]

Harsh Thakor sounds like that narrator from ESPN Legends of the Game.

[maniac 13,357]

I know there is a lot of hate for Azhar for what he did and rightfully so but Azhar was the most unique and elegant and was exciting to watch on song. Pretty much a style that will never be duplicated.

 

Also 3  other options missing here that I thought were very elegant are

 

Saeed Anwar, Stephen Fleming (very underrated) and Sehwag. 

 

People overlook Sehwag because he played slam-bang but he had some of the beautiful drives and his use of feet against spinners was something else and also his straight hitting in the V.

 

I never found Dravid elegant. More Workman like.

[SK_IH 4,385]

Azhar, pure artist