5 greatest ODI openers of all time

Desmond Haynes

Haynes remarkably mixed aggression with a solid technique

There was more to the legend of Desmond Haynes than his evergreen partnership with Gordon Greenidge for West Indies. Haynes was a revelation at the top of the format when the limited-overs form was only gaining ground.

More than the numbers (which are impressive considering the era he played in), Haynes was a solid batsman who knew when to attack, and how to smash attacks to smithereens: if you remember Vivian Richards’s maverick batting, you should also remember Haynes smashing Chetan Sharma, and later Jeff Thomson, for three consecutive hook shots.

As an opener, Haynes amassed a whopping 8648 runs at an average over 41, compiling 17 hundreds in the process.